IC-NRLF 


SPECIAL  REPORT 


OF  THE 


Boise 
Public  Schools 


JUNE,  1915 


GIFT   OF 


SPECIAL  REPORT 


OF  THE 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


JUNE,  1915 


CONTENTS 


Page 

Introduction    5 

Cost  of  Education 7 

School    Attendance 11 

A  Study  in  Retardation  and  Acceleration 15 

Supervision  of  Instruction 26 

English  in  the  Elementary  School 29 

The  Courtis  Standard  Test  in  Arithmetic 46 

The  Intermediate  School 53 

The  Elective  System 61 

Industrial     Education 71 

The   Co-ordination   of   Industrial    Studies    with   Traditional    Sub- 
jects in  the  High  School  Curriculum 81 

Co-operation  of  the  Community  with  the  Public  Schools 89 

Report  of  the  Secretary 95 


INTRODUCTION 


No  annual  report  of  the  schools  of  Boise  has  been 
printed  during  the  incumbency  of  the  present  superintend- 
ent. In  February,  1913,  the  Expert  Survey  of  the  public 
school  system  of  Boise  was  published.  This  survey  was 
made  by  Edward  C.  Elliott,  Professor  of  Education  and 
Director  of  Course  of  Training  of  Teachers,  University  of 
Wisconsin;  Charles  H.  Judd,  Director  School  of  Educa- 
tion, Professor  of  Education,  University  of  Chicago;  and 
George  D.  Strayer,  head  of  Department  and  Professor  of 
Educational  Administration,  Teachers'  College,  Colum- 
bia University.  In  June,  1913,  a  report  of  special  teach- 
ers and  supervisors  was  published.  During  the  past 
seven  years  no  other  publications  have  been  authorized  by 
the  Board  of  Education  of.  the  city  of  Boise. 

This  publication  is  not  the  superintendent's  annual  re- 
port, as  it  will  deal  with  data  accumulated  through  a 
series  of  years.  It  will  not,  therefore,  be  limited  by  the 
traditional  forms  of  annual  reports  of  public  schools  either 
in  material  presented  or  in  methods  of  treatment.  It  will 
not  confine  itself  to  any  one  issue.  Indeed,  there  seems  to 
be  no  one  particular  issue  about  the  schools  of  Boise  as 
far  as  those  who  are  responsible  for  their  administration 
have  been  able  to  determine.  The  school  authorities  feel 
justified  in  assuming  that  the  patrons  of  the  school  district 
are  fairly  well  convinced  that  the  public  school  agencies 
maintained  by  themselves  at  so  great  cost  are  in  a  satis- 
factory manner  performing  the  function  for  which  they 
were  created  and  for  which  they  are  so  loyally  supported. 
Hence,  the  school  administrators  are  not  compelled  to  sub- 


init  a  brief  in  their  own  behalf.  They  are  attempting  in 
this  report  merely  to  present  to  the  patrons  of  the  district 
an  account  of  their  own  stewardship. 

The  supervising  force  knows  that  the  schools  must  not 
only  run  smoothly  but  that  they  must  accomplish  some  def- 
inite and  measurable  results.  The  supervising  officers 
have,  therefore,  agreed  upon  a  policy.  This  policy  in  all 
its  phases  has  been  submitted  to  the  teachers  for  discussion 
and  modification.  The  entire  teaching  force  have  agreed 
upon  what  is  wanted  and  how;  to  get  it  and  are  harmoni- 
ously at  work,  each  at  hisi  own  definitely  assigned  and 
clearly  understood  job. 

This  report  will  attempt  to  present  some  of  the  educa- 
tional aims  of  the  institution,  the  machinery  adopted  for 
the  realization  of  those  aims,  and  the  results  so  far  accom- 
plished. The  intention  of  the  compilers  is  to  eliminate  all 
immaterial  aujl  irrelevant  statistics  such  as  names  and  ad- 
dresses of  teachers,  number  of  teachers  and  enrollment  of 
schools  through  a  series  of  years,  et  cetera.  No  attempt 
will  be  made  to  present  all  the  problems  which  the  teach- 
ers are  attempting  to  solve,  but  several  studies  are  publish- 
ed to  show  the  effort  that  is  being  made  to  have  clear  and 
definite  aims  in  view  and  to  apply  standards  which  shall, 
in  some  degree,  measure  the  extent  to  which  these  ideals 

are  being  realized. 

CHAS.  S.  MEEK, 

Superin  tendent. 


SPECIAL  REPORT  BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

% 

COST   OF   EDUCATION. 

In  these  days  of  high  taxation  every  item  of  public  ex- 
penditure is  properly  being  carefully  scrutinized  by  tax- 
payers.  School  administrators  may  not  expect  to  escape 
this  investigation.  Indeed,  they  should  gladly  furnish  to 
the  public  all  the  data  whereby  patrons  of  the  school  and 
taxpayers,  generally,  may  know  the  cost  of  their  own 
school  system  in  relation  to  other  schools  of  the  same 
class. 

The  Bureau  of  Statistics  has,  for  cities  of  all  classes,  es- 
timated public  school  expenditures  on  the  per  thousand  of 
total  population  of  the  cities  enumerated.  In  comparison 
with  cities  of  its  class,  Boise  ranks  high  in  school  expen- 
ditures, reckoned  upon  total  population,  but  any  estima- 
tion of  school  expenditure  based  upon  population  outside 
of  school  is  in  favor  of  inefficiency  rather  than  efficiency 
of  the  school  system  under  investigation.  Recent  investi- 
gations reveal  the  fact  that  public  schools,  generally,  re- 
tain a  small  per  cent  of  the  children  for  the  entire  twelve 
years.  Fifty  per  cent  of  the  children  have  been  eliminated 
by  the  time  they  have  reached  the  sixth  year,  seventy-five 
per  cent  by  the  time  they  have  reached  the  eighth  year  and 
less  than  ten  per  cent  are  enrolled  in  the  high  school.  The 
average  city,  therefore,  must  provide  educational  facili- 
ties for  only  fifty  per  cent  of  the  children  for  the  sixth 
year  and  only  twenty-five  per  cent  for  the  seventh  and 
eighth  years  and  less  than  ten  per  cent  for  the  high  school. 
Any  estimation  of  expenditure  based  on  population  outside 
of  school  would  be  in  favor  of  the  school  system  that  elim- 
inates the  children  and  against  the  system  that  retains  an 
unusual  number. 

At  the  end  of  the  present  year,  the  Boise  schools  had  en- 
rolled in  the  second  year  of  the  elementary  schools  334 ;  in 
the  sixth  grade  359 ;  350  in  the  seventh  grade ;  365  in  the 
eighth  grade;  and  356  in  the  first  year  in  the  high  school. 
These  figures  show  that  the  schools  of  Boise  instead  of 
eliminating  fifty  per  cent  by  the  time  the  sixth  year  is 
reached,  75  per  cent  in  the  eighth  year  and  retaining  less 
than  ten  per  cent  for  the  high  school,  retains  practically 


8  SPECIAL  REPORT 

all  of  the  children  not  only  for  the  eight  grades  but  for 
the  high  school  as  well.  Twenty-six  per  cent  of  all  the 
children  are  enrolled  in  the  high  school.  Relatively  few 
in  the  high  school  come  from  outside  the  district,  as  only 
$3,300  tuition  is  collected  at  forty  dollars  per  pupil.  These 
figures  show  that  Boise  is  providing  school  facilities  for 
almost  three  times  as  many  children  in  the  grammar 
grades  and  the  high  school  as  the  average  city  provides. 
The  most  generally  accepted  standard  for  measuring  the 
efficiency  of  a  school  system  is  that  of  finding  what  pro- 
portion of  the  children  are  retained  in  the  grammar  grades 
and  in  the  high  school.  On  this  standard  Boise  heads  the 
list  for  cities  in  the  United  States.  No  other  city  of  twen- 
ty-five thousand  or  over  has  twenty-six  per  cent  of  its  to- 
tal enrollment  in  the  high  school. 

When  school  expenditure  is  measured  by  population, 
every  pupil  retained  becomes  a  handicap  rather  than  an 
asset.  The  only  equitable  and  really  scientific  standard 
of  getting  at  relative  costs  of  school  systems  is  that  of 
finding  the  cost  per  pupil  enrolled. 

Fifty-two  cities  generally  distributed  throughout  the 
United  States,  most  of  them  in  the  thirty  thousand  list, 
show  a  per  capita  expenditure  in  the  high  school  ranging 
from  $150.00  down  to  $50.64.  Los  Angeles,  California,  be- 
ing at  the  top  of  the  list,  $150.00,  and  Kingston,  N.  J.,  at 
the  bottom,  $50.64.  In  this  list,  Boise,  with  a  per  capita 
expenditure  of  $71.45,  ranks  thirty-fifth,  or  is  the  ninth 
city  below  the  average.  If  this  list  were  extended  to  in- 
clude all  the  cities  in  the  United  States  of  twenty-five 
thousand  and  over,  Boise's  standing  would  yet  not  be  ma- 
terially above  the  average.  While  the  high  school  cost  per 
capita  is  not  above  the  average,  its  educational  standing  is 
certainly  far  above  the  average.  In  the  high  school,  too, 
we  have  a  greater  amount  of  industrial  work  than  most 
cities  of  any  size  in  the  country.  It  is  generally  under- 
stood that  industrial  activities  cost  more  than  the  tradit- 
ional studies,  yet  with  the  addition  of  these  industrial 
courses,  Boise's  standing  is  not  above  the  average  for  cities 
having  distinctly  traditional  curricula. 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 
Per  Capita  Cost  of  Expenditure  in  High  Schools. 

1.  Los  Angeles,  Cal $150.00 

2.  Pasadena,  Cal 134.00 

3.  Niagara,   N.   Y 101.20 

4.  Seattle,  Wash 101.00 

5.  Bayonne,   N.   J 100.00 

6.  San    Diego,    Cal 99.04 

7.  East  Orange,   N.   J 98.70 

8.  Evansville,  Ind 92.78 

9.  Newark,  N.  J 89.50 

10.  Watertown,  N.  J 87.75 

11.  Dayton,  Ohio 86.87 

12.  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y 86.56 

13.  Pueblo,    Colorado.  . 85.35 

14.  Riverside,  Cal 85.33 

15.  Spokane,  Washington 82.78 

16.  East  St.  Louis,  Mo 82.75 

17.  Fresno,    Cal 82.32 

18.  El  Paso,  Texas 81.35 

19.  Cambridge,   Mass 79.98 

20.  Troy,  New  York 79.93 

21.  Muskogee,    Oklahoma 79.83 

22.  Yonkers,  N.   Y 79.70 

23.  Montgomery,    Alabama 79.63 

24.  Santa  Cruz,    California 79.63 

25.  Hampton,  N.  J 79.50 

26.  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 79.19 

27.  Rockford,  Illinois 78.83 

28.  San   Jose,    California 78.75 

29.  Holrock,  N.  J 75.80 

30.  Elizabeth,  N.  J 75.40 

31.  Torrington,  Conn 75.14 

32.  Eureka,  Cal 75.09 

33.  New  Bedford,  N.  Y 75.00 

34.  Denver,   Colorado 72.93 

35.  BOISE,     IDAHO 71.45 

36.  Decatur,   Illinois 69.74 

37.  Waterbury,     Conn 69.73 

38.  Tacoma,  Washington 69.66 

39.  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y 69.44 

40.  Auburn,    N.    Y 68.89 

41.  Utica,  N.  Y 68.67 

42.  Maldon,  Mass 68.55 

43.  Newport,    R,    1 66.38 

44.  Cairo,   111 64.21 

45.  Everett,  Mass 64.00 

46.  Ogden,   Utah    60.83 

47.  Fitchburg,  Mass.' 56.24 

48.  Canton,   Ohio    55.30 

49.  Topeka,  Kansas 54.93 

50.  Altoona,    Pa 53.09 

51.  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin 52.25 

52.  Kingston,  N.  J so.64 

In  per  capita  cost  of  grade  pupils,  Berkeley,  California, 
is  at  the  head  of  a  list  of  forty-seven  cities  with  a  per  cap- 


10  SPECIAL  REPORT 

ita  cost  of  |51.32;  and  York,  Pennsylvania,  is  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  list  with  a  per  capita  cost  of  $28.02.  Boise 
ranks  fourteenth  in  this  list  with  a  per  capita  cost  of 
$37.41,  which  is  only  $1.76  per  capita  above  the  average  of 
the  forty-seven  cities.  This  small  amount  above  the  aver- 
age cost  of  grades  is  accounted  for,  first,  by  the  fact  that 
the  teachers  in  Boise  are,  none  of  them,  emploj^ed  at  a  low 
salary.  The  Board  of  Education  has  insisted  upon  an 
educational  qualification  and  the  high  standard  for  teach- 
ers makes  it  impossible  to  secure  teachers  of  the  class  they 
demand  at  a  low  salary.  The  second  condition  is  that  the 
number  of  pupils  per  teacher  is  about  thirty,  while  most 
cities  have  forty  and  above.  Yet  with  all  these  conditions, 
the  Boise  schools  are  only  $1.76  above  the  average  per  pu- 
pil, $13.91  below  the  maximum,  and  $0.39  above  the  mini- 
mum. 

Per  Capita  Cost  of  Expenditure  in  Elementary  Schools. 

1.  Berkeley,  California $51.32 

2.  New  Rochelle,  N.   Y 49.51 

3.  Clinton,  Iowa 48.47 

4.  Oakland^  California 43.64 

5.  Newton,  Mass 41.41 

6.  Riverside,    California 41.24 

7.  Spokane,    Washington 41.05 

8.  East  Orange,  N.  J 40.54 

9.  San    Diego,    California 39.64 

10.  Fresno,    California    39.42 

11.  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 38.34 

12.  Hampton,    N.    J 37.41 

13.  Holyoke,   Mass 37.41 

14.  BOISE,   IDAHO 37.41 

15.  Troy,   N.    Y 37.40 

16.  Springfield,    Illinois    37.19 

17.  Quincy,    Mass 37.15 

18.  Santa   Cruz,    California 37.00 

19.  Pawtucket,    R.    1 36.85 

20.  Tacoma,  Washington 36.32 

21.  Newark,    N.    J 35.44 

22.  Eureka,    California     35.32 

23.  Denver,   Colorado 35.04 

24.  Youngstown,    Ohio    34.94 

25.  Utica,    N.    Y 34.61 

26.  Saginaw,  Michigan    34.07 

27.  Bayonne,   N.   J 34.07 

28.  Elmira,  N.   Y 33.69 

29.  Topeka,  Kansas 33.66 

30.  Dayton,    Ohio     33.54 

31.  Evansville,    Indiana    33.38 

32.  Meriden,   Conn 33. OS 

33.  Sioux  City,  Iowa 32.61 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


11 


34.  New    Bedford,    Mass 

35.  Saginaw,  West  Side,   Mich 

36.  Fitchburg,    Mass 

37.  South  Bend,  Indiana 

38.  East  St.   Louis,   Illinois 31.03 

39.  La   Crosse,   Michigan 30.64 

40.  Ogden,    Utah 30.37 

41.  Ithaca,    N.    Y 

42.  New   Luchet,   Conn 29.59 

43.  Decatur,    111 29.25 

44.  Elizabeth,  New  York 28.77 

45.  Sheboygan,  Wisconsin 28.29 

46.  Altoona,    Pa 28.22 

47.  York,   Pa 28.02 

(These  tables  were  prepared  by  W.  S.  Deffenbaugh,  Chief  of  the 

Department  of  School  Administration,  Bureau  of  Education,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  and  were  used  by  him  to  standardize  the  cost  of  educa- 
tion in  the  city  of  Ogden,  Utah). 


SCHOOL  ATTENDANCE. 

The  problem  of  maintaining  punctual  and  persistent  at- 
tendance of  all  the  children  at  school  is  important  in 
school  management.  Irregular  attendance  interferes 
greatly  with  the  efficiency  and  economy  of  school  effort. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  community  not  only  to  support  educa- 
tion, to  control  and  manage  it,  but  also  to  enforce  it  upon 
the  community,  to  see  that  every  child  attends  school  as 
regularly  as  possible. 

The  Idaho  law  requires  that  all  children  shall  attend 
school  until  they  have  completed  the  elementary  school 
course  of  eight  grades,  or  until  they  are  eighteen  years  of 
age.  If  children  have  reached  the  age  of  sixteen  and  have 
not  completed  the  course,  they  may  be  excused  from  at- 
tendance by  the  city  or  county  superintendent.  In  Idaho, 
as  in  other  states,  much  good  legislation  relating  to  chil- 
dren is  ineffective  unless  there  be  established  good  ma- 
chinery for  the  enforcement  of  the  law.  For  the  enforce- 
ment of  compulsory  school  attendance  laws,  there  must  be 
an  accurate  registration  of  all  the  children  contributory  to 
a  given  school  district.  Early  in  the  school  year  all  the 
children  on  the  registration  list  and  not  enrolled  in  the 
public  or  parochial  schools  must  be  checked  and  a  list  fur- 
nished to  the  attendance  officers  for  investigation. 
Otherwise,  the  officers  have  no  definite  information  as  to 
those  children  that  are  in  school  and  those  that  have  not 
yet  enrolled.  These  officers  are,  consequently,  compelled 


12  SPECIAL  REPORT 

to  do  their  work  in  a  most  unsystematic  fashion,  seeking 
children  on  the  streets,  on  the  playgrounds,  in  the  parks 
and  other  places  of  resort.  To  avoid  these  difficulties,  a 
careful  registration  is  taken  in  Boise  of  all  the  children 
between  the  ages  of  six  and  twenty-one.  For  every  child 
in  the  district  the  following  information  is  collected : 
Name  of  parent  or  guardian,  sex,  age,  date  of  birth,  and 
residence.  The  registration  list  is  submitted  to  the  teach- 
ers who  check  the  names  of  all  the  children  enrolled  in  the 
school.  The  attendance  in  the  parochial  schools  is 
checked  in  the  same  careful  manner.  The  names  of  chil- 
dren Avho  are  legitimately  out  of  school  because  of  poor 
health  or  for  other  reasons  are  then  checked  up  in  the  su- 
perintendent's office.  The  permits  he  has  issued  makes 
this  record  accurate.  The  attendance  officers  are  then 
furnished  a  list  of  all  the  children  who  have  not  yet  enter- 
ed school  and  also  a  list  of  those  who  attended  irregularly 
during  the  previous  year.  The  officers  immediately  go  to 
the  homes  of  the  children  whose  names  are  furnished  theni 
and  insist  on  immediate  and  regular  attendance  at  school. 
A  careful  and -accurate  census  of  all  the  children  be- 
tween the  ages  of  six  and  twenty-one  contributory  to  the 
Boise  schools  was  taken  in  September,  1914.  The  attend- 
ance officers,  the  principals,  and  teachers  used  this  census 
vigorously  to  get  all  the  children  in  school  and  to  account 
for  every  child.  A  checking  of  the  census  in  December 
showed  the  following  results : 


Ag-e 

In  public  schools 

In  non-public  schools                  ( 

6 

375 

20 

7 

392 

16 

8 

423 

17 

9 

361 

17 

10 

390 

18 

11 

355 

16 

12 

353 

16 

13 

310 

18 

14 

348 

18 

15 

314 

25 

16 

327 

23 

17 

325 

31 

18 

201 

.  . 

19 

95 

.  . 

20 

41 

Total 

in  public  and  non-public 

schools  .  .         .             ...         .  .  . 

Total 

nut    of  school  .  . 

Out  of  school 
3 
0 
0 

0 
0 

o 

i 

i 

2 
6 

13 
82 
188 
257 
214 

.       4845 
767 


Total    .r>6 1 2 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  13 

In  the  table  presented  above  many  of  the  pupils  eighteen 
years  of  age  and  a  considerable  number  of  those  seventeen 
years  old,  marked  "Out  of  School"  had  graduated  from 
the  high  school.  A  proportion  of  those  sixteen  years  of 
age  and  marked  "Out  of  School''  had  completed  the  ele- 
mentary school.  A  careful  checking  of  the  registration  to 
find  the  number  under  eighteen  who  had  not  completed  the 
elementary  school  and  were  out  of  school  revealed  the  re- 
sults presented  in  the  following  table : 


Age. 
12 

Number. 
1 

13 

1 

14 

2 

15 

6 

16 

13 

17  . 

22 

Total  45 

The  cause  of  the  absence  of  every  child  in  the  above  list 
was  investigated,  and  a  special  permit  issued  by  the  Su- 
perintendent. 

The  above  table  shows  that  all  agencies  working  to- 
gether to  keep  all  the  children  in  school  have  been  unusu- 
ally successful.  A  total  of  45  pupils  under  18  years  of  age 
who  are  out  of  school  and  have  not  completed  the  element- 
ary school  is  surely  gratifying  to  all  concerned. 

PER    CENT    OF    THIRTEEN-YEAR-OIvD    BOYS    IN    AND    ABOVE 
THE  SEVENTH  GRADE. 

(Table  prepared  by  Dr.  Leonard  P.  Ayres,   Russell   Sage  Foundation, 

1912-1913). 

Per  cent  of  boys 

City—  in  and  above 

seventh  grade 
BOISE,  IDAHO    75 

1.  Brockton,  Mass 77 

2.  Aurora,    111.    (East)  .  . 73 

3.  Kalamazoo,   Mich 64 

4.  Waterloo,    Iowa 63 

5.  Scranton,   Pa 62 

6.  Decatur,   111 61 

7.  Aurora,    111.     (West) 60 

8.  Holyoke,    Mass 59 

9.  Racine,    Wis 57 


1-4  SPECIAL  REPORT 

10.  Newport,   R.   1 57 

11.  Mobile,    Ala 57 

12.  Amsterdam,    N.    Y 54 

13.  Rockford,    111.     54 

14.  Davenport,  Iowa    54 

15.  Pittsfield,    Mass 54 

16.  Patterson,   N.    J 53 

17.  Saginaw,    Mich.     (West) 52 

18.  Lancaster,   Pa 52 

19.  Dubuque,    Iowa    51 

20.  York,    Pa 51 

21.  Evansville,   Ind 51 

22.  Norwich,   Conn.    50 

23.  Auburn,   N.    Y 50 

24.  Utica,    N.    Y 49 

25.  Springfield,    Ohio     49 

26.  Syracuse,   N.   Y 49 

27.  San  Diego,   Cal 49 

28.  Chicopee,  Mass 49 

29.  Tacoma,   Wash.    .  . 49 

30.  Meriden,  Conn 49 

31.  Elmira,  N.  Y 47 

32.  Springfield,  Mo 47 

33.  Saginaw,  Mich.   (East)    46 

34.  Waterbury,  Conn 45 

35.  Joliet,   111 45 

36.  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa 45 

37.  Flint,    Mich.. 45 

38.  Binghampton,  N.  Y 45 

39.  South  Omaha,  Neb 44 

40.  Madison,    Wis 44 

41.  Canton,    Ohio    44 

42.  Superior,   Wis 44 

43.  Columbus,    Ohio     44 

44.  Reading,    Pa 42 

45.  Harrisburg,  Pa 42 

46.  Williamsport,   Pa 41 

47.  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y 40 

48.  Albany,   N.    Y 40 

49.  Hazelton,  Pa 39 

50.  South    Bend,    Ind 38 

51.  Troy,    N.    Y 38 

52.  Hamilton,   Ohio    38 

53.  Atlanta,    Ga 37 

54.  Pueblo,  Colo.   (Dist  1) 36 

55.  Lincoln,   Neb 36 

56.  Chattanooga,    Tenn 36 

57.  Bay  City,   Mich 35 

58.  New  Bedford,   Mass 34 

59.  Portland,    Me 34 

60.  Manchester,   N.    H 34 

61.  Fall    River,    Mass 34 

62.  Johnstown,    Pa 33 

63.  Nashville,    Tenn 33 

64.  Youngstown,    Ohio    33 

65.  New   Britain,    Conn 33 

66.  Danville,    111.    32 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  15 

67.  Galveston,    Tex 

68.  Trenton,    N.    J 31 

69.  Pueblo,    Colo.     (Dist.    20) 28 

70.  Woonsocket,    R.    1 24 

71.  Richmond,    Va 24 

72.  Norfolk,    Va 21 

73.  Lansing,    Mich.     21 

74.  Birmingham,    Ala 20 

75.  Columbia,    S.    C 18 

76.  Charleston,    S.    C 18 

77.  Bridgeport,     Conn 16 

78.  Portsmouth,  Va.    12 

There  are  83  per  cent  of  the  thirteen-year-old  girls  in  and  above 
the  seventh  grade,   in  the  Boise  schools. 

This  high  standing  of  Boise  may  be  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  every  student  is  kept  in  school,  and,  also,  by 
the  fact  that  every  effort  is  made  to  keep  students  from 
failing  and  thus  becoming  retarded  through  school.  Con- 
structive efforts  to  eliminate  retardation  is  explained  in 
the  chapter  that  follows,  but  the  school  management  can- 
not claim  for  the  teachers  the  entire  credit  for  this  un- 
usual showing.  The  character  of  the  school  population 
is  especially  fine.  Boise  has  few  foreigners,  no  factories 
of  any  consequence,  and  is  simply  a  residential  city.  The 
school  has  to  contend,  therefore,  with  very  few  juvenile 
delinquents  and  practically  no  indigent  children. 


A  STUDY  IN  RETARDATION  AND  ACCELERATION. 

In  most  public  schools,  the  curriculum  for  each  grade 
of  the  elementary  school  contains  a  rather  clearly  de- 
fined body  of  facts  and  principles,  the  mastery  of  which  is 
the  necessary  requisite  of  promotion.  The  marks  that  are 
given  to  each  child  are  merely  the  teacher's  estimate  of  the 
completeness  of  this  mastery. 

If  a  uniform  test  of  ability  is  applied  to  all  the  children, 
they  naturally  fall  into  three  groups:  (1)  Those  who  fail 
and  are  compelled  to  repeat  the  work  of  one  or  more 
grades  and  thus  require  more  than  the  regularly  allotted 
time  to  complete  the  course;  (2)  those  who  make  normal 
progress  and  complete  the  eight  grades  in  eight  years; 
(3)  those  who  receive  double  promotions,  skip  grades,  and 
complete  the  course  in  one  or  more  terms  less  than  the 
time  assigned  by  the  course  of  study.  The  second  group, 


16  SPECIAL  REPORT 

including  all  those  who  make  normal  progress,  presents  no 
very  difficult  administrative  problems.  It  should  contain 
the  very  great  majority  of  all  the  pupils.  In  this  class 
may  be  found  the  certain  performers,  those  who  respond 
readily  to  group  instruction,  who  do  not  require  special 
attention  and  individual  methods  of  treatment.  This 
group  fixes  the  grade  standards  for  the  entire  school.  It 
is  counted  upon  to  complete  the  work  of  each  grade  in  the 
allotted  time  and  to  advance  regularly  at  each  promotion 
period. 

One  of  the  most  difficult  and  administrative  tasks  is  to 
adjust  school  machinery  to  fit  the  needs  of  all  the  pupils, 
to  secure  the  most  effective  and  successful  work  from  the 
child  of  average  ability  and  yet  not  neglect  the  interest 
of  the  unusually  bright  one  or  the  exceptionally  dull  one. 
In  the  public  schools  as  now  organized,  the  three  types  of 
children  are  not  adequately  protected.  According  to  a 
conservative  estimate  (Pamphlet  77,  Russell  Sage  Foun- 
dation), there  are  in  the  average  American  city  at  least 
ten  times  as  many  children  who  are  advancing  more 
slowly  than  the  normal  rate  than  there  are  of  those  who 
are  advancing  more  rapidly  than  the  normal  rate.  This 
means  that  the  course  of  study  is  not  adapted  to  the  slow 
child  or  to  the  one  of  average  ability,  but  to  the  unusually 
bright  pupil.  Readjustment  is,  therefore,  necessary  until 
the  number  making  slow  progress  is  about  equal  to  the 
number  making  rapid  progress.  The  problem  then  re- 
mains to  work  out  successful  methods  of  caring  for  the 
needs  of  the  exceptionally  bright  and  the  exceptionally 
dull  pupils. 

As  a  preliminary  step  toward  the  solution  of  this  prob- 
lem, a  detailed  investigation  was  made  in  1909  of  the 
amount  of  retardation  in  the  Boise  schools.  The  standard 
adopted  was  the  one  by  which  Dr.  Maxwell  rated  as  over 
age  all  children  in  the  first  grade  who  were  eight  years  of 
age  or  older;  all  those  in  the  second  grade  who  were  nine 
years  old  or  more;  and  so  on  for  each  of  the  succeeding 
grades.  (This  standard  is  used  by  Dr.  Leonard  P.  Ayres 
and  is  explained  on  p.  27,  "Laggards  in  Our  Schools.") 
The  investigation  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  school 
authorities  of  Boise  that  51  per  cent  of  the  children  were 
retarded.  Efforts  were  at  once  made  to  adjust  the  cur- 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

riculum  more  nearly  to  the  abilities  of  the  average  child 
and  to  give  special  attention  to  the  exceptionally  slow  and 
unusually  bright  pupils.  Two  years  of  intensive  work 
along  these  lines  had,  in  June,  1911,  reduced  the  amount  of 
retardation  from  51  per  cent  to  32.8  per  cent.  But  there 
were  yet  too  many  over-age  pupils  in  all  the  grades.  These 
were  far  from  being  balanced  by  the  number  who  were  un- 
der age  for  their  grade.  Those  making  less  than  normal 
progress  yet  outnumbered  those  advancing  more  rapidly 
than  the  normal  rate.  Since  the  over-age  pupils  were  in 
excess  of  the  under-age  for  each  grade,  many  children 
were  making  slower  progress  than  they  should  make  and 
were  able  to  make.  For  a  number  of  years,  therefore,  the 
double  promotions  would  be  in  excess  of  the  failures  be- 
fore a  situation  could  be  reached  whereby  the  age  and 
grade  distribution  would  show  the  vast  majority  at  the 
normal  age  for  their  respective  grades  and  the  remainder 
about  equally  divided  into  the  over-age  and  the  under-age 
groups.  During  the  past  four  years,  supervisors,  princi- 
pals, and  teachers  have  been  laboring  to  achieve  this  end, 
but  before  consistent  teamwork  could  produce  measurable 
results  toward  that  achievement,  all  had  to  agree  upon  a 
standard  of  promotion.  As  stated  above,  the  standard  for 
the  majority  who  were  advancing  at  the  normal  rate  is  the 
mastery  of  the  subject-matter  of  the  curriculum  for  each 
grade. 

But  this  standard  could  not  be  maintained  for  those  pu- 
pils who  were  handicapped  by  limited  educational  oppor- 
tunities or  for  those  who  were  subnormal  in  intelligence. 
If  these  unfortunates  must  equal  the  achievements  of  the 
normal  group  before  being  permitted  to  advance,  most  of 
them  would  be  condemned  to  the  ranks  of  repeaters.  A 
study  of  the  performances  of  the  failure  in  Boise  has  con- 
vinced the  entire  force  that  the  repeater  is  generally  a 
quitter  and  does  about  as  poor  work  in  his  second  attempt 
as  in  his  first  trial  at  the  work  of  a  given  grade.  The 
stamp  of  disapproval  has  been  placed  upon  him.  He 
starts  on  his  second  attempt  with  a  grievance  against  tho 
teacher  and  the  entire  institution.  The  parents  as  well  as 
the  child  feel  injured,  so  that  the  teacher  must  combat  both 
the  antagonism  of  the  home  and  the  hostility  of  the  pupil, 
who  has  been  trained  for  failure  and  not  for  success,  and 


18  SPECIAL  REPORT 

who  becomes  either  morbidly  sensitive  or  brazenly  indif- 
ferent. What  the  laggard  would  probably  do  as  a  repeater 
is  therefore  quite  definitely  known.  If  he  were  permitted 
to  advance,  he  could  hardly  do  worse  and  he  might  do  bet- 
ter. It  is  less  expensive  and  more  human  to  promote  him 
than  it  is  to  degrade  him.  This  view  of  the  situation  is 
generally  accepted  in  Boise.  The  standard  for  promoting 
the  dull  pupil  is  entirely  individual.  He  is  not  compelled 
to  do  all  the  work  of  his  present  grade  before  he  is  permit- 
ted to  pass  to  the  next.  He  is  even  allowed  to  pass  on 
without  manifesting  enough  ability  to  justify  the  hope  that 
he  may  be  able  to  do  the  work  of  the  advanced  grade.  The 
question  is  reduced  to  the  one  consideration :  Would  he 
do  better  if  advanced  than  he  would  as  a  repeater? 

In  every  grade  of  twenty  which  is  promoted  in  Boise, 
there  is  an  average  of  two  who  have  not  satisfactorily 
completed  the  work  of  the  lower  grade.  These  are  accept- 
ed by  the  teacher  as  special  cases  to  which  she  is  expected 
to  give  individual  attention  both  in  and  out  of  school 
hours.  She  is  not  held  responsible  for  the  work  of  the 
special  pupil,  but  is  given  credit  for  all  progress  that  she 
can  stimulate.  She  gets  the  enthusiastic  co-operation  of 
the  home,  for  the  parents  know  that  their  unfortunate  off- 
spring has  been  treated  generously  and  leniently.  They 
thus  aid  in  every  possible  way  to  bring  their  child  up  to 
the  standard.  This  policy  of  dealing  with  laggards  has 
the  indorsement  of  the  great  majority  of  teachers.  The 
concensus  of  opinion  is  that  those  who  are  permitted  thus 
to  advance  more  nearly  approach  the  standard  of  the  ad- 
vanced grade  than  they  would  of  the  lower  grade  had  they 
been  compelled  to  repeat.  This  is  not  surprising  when  one 
considers  how  little  there  is  in  the  curriculum  that  is  so 
connected  and  consecutive  that  one  year's  work  depends 
upon  the  completion  of  the  subjects  of  the  previous  year. 
The  obvious  objection  to  this  plan  is  that  it  breaks  down 
all  grade  standards,  that  it  puts  a  premium  on  inferior 
work,  that  it  takes  away  from  the  normal  group  the  stim- 
ulus of  being  compelled  to  reach  a  degree  of  proficiency 
required  of  all  for  promotion.  This  false  educational 
theory  and  the  reluctance  of  teachers  to  promote  weak  pu- 
pils because  they  fear  what  the  instructors  in  the  advanced 
grades  may  say  of  their  products  have  congested  the  pri- 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


19 


mary  grades  with  laggards  and  have  eliminated  from  the 
schools  50  per  cent  of  the  children  before  they  have  com- 
pleted the  sixth  grade  and  75  per  cent  of  them  before  they 
have  completed  the  eighth  grade. 

In  Boise,  all  grade  standards  are  ignored  in  permitting 
weak  pupils  to  advance,  but  the  normal  pupils  treat  these 
special  cases  with  sympathetic  toleration  and  do  not  relax 
in  their  own  efforts  because  their  handicapped  companions 
are  not  held  to  the  standard  of  work  required  of  them- 
selves. Standard  tests  of  efficiency  in  which  the  work  of 
these  specially  promoted  pupils  must  be  tabulated  with 
the  class  demonstrate  that  the  work  of  each  grade  is  more 
thorough  than  it  was  three  years  ago  before  this  policy  of 
promoting  the  slow  pupils  had  been  generally  adopted. 
Neither  has  this  flexible  stand  of  promotion  increased  the 
number  doing  unsatisfactory  work.  Early  in  December 
of  the  present  school  year  all  teachers  were  asked  to  send 
to  the  superintendent's  office  the  names  of  all  pupils  who 
were  unable  to  respond  to  such  group  and  special  instruc- 
tion as  could  be  given  in  the  classes  as  now  organized. 
From  an  enrollment  of  2,700,  but  48  pupils  were  so  desig- 
nated. A  number  test  was  later  given,  and  three  of  those 
made  100  per  cent  where  the  standard  for  their  grade  was 
85  per  cent.  A  spelling  test  was  also  given  which  was 
submitted  by  Dr.  Leonard  Ay  res.  One  of  the  48  made  95 
per  cent,  and  the  standard  was  70  per  cent.  At  a  later 
conference  with  the  teachers  the  list  of  48  pupils  was  cut 
to  17.  These  were  placed  in  an  ungraded  room  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  second  semester.  Many  other  examples 
could  be  produced  to  show  that  the  individual  method  of 
promoting  slow  pupils  has  not  lowered  the  standard  of 
the  school.  Ample  proof  could  also  be  collected  to  demon- 
strate that  never  before  have  there  been  so  few  students 
who  were  not  doing  satisfactory  work  in  their  present 
grades. 

TABLE  I — Percentage  oj  children  in  each  grade  above  normal  age  in  June,  1911, 
and  the  percentage  above  normal  age  in  June  1915, 


Grade 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Total 

Percentage  above  normal  age, 
June,  1911.  .. 

12  6 

19  2 

32  2 

43  i 

44  1 

45  3 

40  4 

34  5 

^2  8 

Percentage  above  normal  age, 
June  1915 

6  ^ 

6  2 

7  3 

11  9 

18  2 

17  8 

23  1 

•ii    e 

20 


SPECIAL  KKl'OKT 


As  appears  in  Table  I,  the  amount  of  reduction  in  per- 
centage of  retardation  produced  during  the  four  years  is 
not  so  great  for  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  as  for  the 
lower  grades.  The  reason  for  this  is  apparent  when  the 
high  percentage  of  retardation  in  the  fourth,  fifth,  and 
sixth  grades,  June,  1911,  is  observed.  By  double  promo- 
tions, some  of  these  retarded  pupils  had  been  brought  up 
to  normal  in  the  four  years.  But  many  were  so  far  be- 
hind that  they  could  not  be  pushed  into  the  normal  group 
in  the  few  remaining  years  of  the  elementary  school  course. 
This  reduction  of  percentage  of  retardation  from  32  per 
cent  to  18  per  cent  in  four  years  is  not,  on  the  face  of  it,  a 
distinctive  achievement,  but  the  difficulty  of  accomplish- 
ing decided  results  along  this  line  is  increased  by  the  fact 
that  a  large  percentage  of  the  population  of  western  cities 
shifts  each  year.  More  than  10  per  cent  of  the  pupils  en- 
rolled in  the  elementary  schools  of  Boise  this  year  have 
come  from  other  schools.  Of  these  new  pupils,  35  per 
cent  are  over  age  as  against  5  per  cent  under  age.  In 
1911,  the  years  lost  by  slow  children  were  so  in  excess  of 
the  years  gained  by  pupils  making  rapid  progress  that  not 
only  must  the  number  making  slow  progress  be  reduced 
materially,  but,  also,  the  number  of  those  making  rapid 
progress  must  be  decidedly  increased  before  the  number 
over  age  in  each  grade  should  be  balanced  by  the  number 
under  age. 

TABLE  II — Percentage  oj  under-age  children  in  each  grade,  1911,  and  percentage 
of  under-age  children  in  each  grade,  1915. 


Grade 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Total 

Per  cent  under  age,  1911  

0 

8.4 

9 

9 

9.3 

7.7 

7.6 

8.1 

7.8 

Per  cent  under  age,  1915  —  .  — 

19.7 

26.9 

31.6 

25.2 

24.7 

25.6 

26.2 

18.6 

23.4 

Table  II  shows  that  the  total  percentage  of  under-age 
pupils  has  been  more  than  tripled  during  the  four  years. 
The  number  of  those  in  the  under-age  group  is  now  much 
greater  than  that  in  the  over-age  group.  The  reports  in 
June,  1915,  showed  18.1  per  cent  over  age  as  against  23.4 
per  cent  under  age. 

Just  as  the  number  making  slow  progress  was  decreased 
by  ignoring  for  the  slow7  pupils  the  standards  of  promo- 
tion applied  to  those  making  normal  progress,  so  the  num- 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  21 

ber  making  rapid  progress  has  been  increased  by  individ- 
ual investigation  and  individual  treatment.  The  report 
of  1911  showed  a  large  percentage  over  age  and  a  small 
percentage  under  age.  It  was,  therefore,  very  obvious 
that  fewer  pupils  should  be  in  the  slow  group  and  more 
children  should  make  rapid  progress.  To  equalize  this 
situation,  the  double  promotions  must  exceed  the  failures. 
But  to  realize  this  desired  end,  pupils  capable  of  making 
rapid  progress  must  be  found  and  pushed  forward. 
Teachers  were,  therefore,  asked  to  furnish  a  list  of  pupils 
who  were  maintaining  their  grade's  standing  and  yet  ex- 
pending less  than  the  amount  of  energy  required  from  the 
average  child  to  accomplish  the  same  purpose.  When 
these  pupils  were  reported  to  the  supervisors  of  instruc- 
tion, their  ability  to  do  the  work  of  advanced  grade  was 
tested.  The  supervisors  placed  in  the  advanced  grade  all 
pupils  who  appeared  to  possess  unusual  ability.  This  pol- 
icy has  been  in  operation  for  four  years.  No  definite  time 
is  fixed  for  double  promotion.  When  a  child  of  exception- 
al ability  is  found,  he  is  promptly  put  forward.  Those  ad- 
vanced are  not  always  the  younger  pupils;  often  they  are 
overgrown  boys  and  girls,  who,  in  former  years,  have  fail- 
ed of  promotion  or  who  entered  school  late,  or  who  have 
attended  irregularly.  No  effort  has  been  made  to  drill 
pupils  thus  advanced  on  the  subject-matter  of  the  curri- 
culum they  missed  by  the  promotion.  They  were  merely 
given  an  opportunity  to  try  the  work  of  the  advanced 
grade.  If  they  could  do  it,  they  remained  there;  if  they 
were  unequal  to  the  task,  they  dropped  back. 

During  the  second  semester  of  the  school  year,  1912-13, 
and  the  two  semesters  of  1913-14,  440  such  double  promo- 
tions were  made.  The  pupils  thus  advanced  constituted 
more  than  10  per  cent  of  all  enrolled. 

TABI,E  III— Percentage  o>  ranks  1 ,  2,  3,  and  4,  given  to  the  440  pupils  thus  pushed 

into  advanced  grades,  compared  with  the  percentage  oj  ranks  1,2,3,  and  4, 

given  to  all  the  pupils  in  all  the  grades  in  the  June  report  1914. 


Grade 

1 

2 

3 

4 

440  pupils  receiving  double  promotions  

48 

38 

All  the  pupils  in  all  the  grades,  June,  1914  

26 

35 

28 

11 

SPECIAL  REPORT 

A  comparison  of  the  relative  class-standing  of  the  440 
pupils  receiving  double  promotions  with  the  average  class- 
standing  of  the  pupils  in  all  the  grades  is  enlightening. 
Each  of  the  pupils  who  are  eligible  for  promotion  at  any 
promotion  period  receives  rank,  1,  2,  3,  or  4.  Rank  1  is 
the  highest  rank  and  rank  4  is  the  lowest  passing  mark. 
To  determine  the  distribution  of  passing  marks  for  all  the 
pupils  in  all  the  grades  as  they  are  shown  on  the  records 
in  June,  1914,  all  the  1's,  2's,  3's,  and  4's  were  counted  and 
the  percentage  of  each  calculated.  In  the  same  way  the 
distribution  of  the  marks  of  the  440  pupils  receiving  the 
double  promotions  was  calculated.  The  first  marks  they 
received  in  the  class  to  which  they  were  promoted  in  every 
case  are  taken  as  the  standard.  Reference  to  Table  III 
will  show  that  while  the  percentage  of  1's  given  to  all  the 
pupils  was  26,  the  440  pupils  advancing  more  rapidly  than 
the  normal  rate  received  48  per  cent  of  the  1's.  All  the 
children  received  eleven  times  as  many  4's,  the  lowest  pass- 
ing mark  as  were  recorded  against  the  440  pupils  making 
rapid  progress.  Not  a  failing  mark  (rank  5)  has  been 
recorded  against  one  of  those  pushed  forward.  This  com- 
parison demonstrates  that  the  pupils  thus  advanced  im- 
mediately assumed  rank  far  above  the  average  of  the  class 
to  which  they  were  promoted.  They  almost  invariably 
maintained  the  same  relative  rank  in  the  class  from  which 
they  came.  This  is  additional  proof  that  the  work  of  the 
elementary  school  is  not  so  connected  and  consecutive  that 
the  curriculum  of  the  advanced  grade  cannot  be  success- 
fully mastered  until  all  the  work  of  the  lower  grade  has 
been  completed.  This  fact  must  constantly  be  impressed 
upon  teachers  if  they  are  to  be  induced  to  adopt  flexible 
standards  of  promotion. 

TABUS  IV— Percentage  of  ranks  J,  2,  3,  4,  made  wr  the  two  semesters  1914-15 
by  pupils  doubly  promoted  the  previous  semester. 


No.  pupils 

1's 

2's 

3's 

4's 

239 

47 

38 

11 

2 

Table  IV  is  a  confirmation  of  the  interpretation  of  the 
data  for  1913-14. 

The  teachers  in  Boise  realize  that  the  ideal  situation 
would  indicate  that  the  course  of  study  and  the  system  of 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

promotion  were  so  adjusted  that  most  of  the  children 
would  advance  at  the  normal  rate,  the  slow  ones  requiring 
more  time  to  do  the  work,  and  an  equal  number  of  bright 
ones  advancing  more  rapidly  than  the  normal  rate.  But 
in  years  past,  the  number  making  slow  progress  has  been 
so  in  excess  of  the  number  making  rapid  progress  that  the 
entire  force  is  now  working  to  reverse  the  situation  until 
the  number  of  over-age  pupils  in  each  grade  is  balanced  by 
the  number  under  age. 

As  indicated  by  Table  V,  the  percentage  of  double  pro- 
motions is  more  than  double  that  of  failures  for  all  grades 
but  the  first  primary.  Many  children  get  into  the  first 
primary  before  they  are  six,  and  therefore  cannot  keep  the 
pace  set  by  the  pupils  of  normal  age.  No  official  age  re- 
cord being  available,  the  age  given  by  the  parents  must  be 
accepted.  But  the  failures  in  the  first  primary  do  not 
materially  increase  retardation  as  most  of  the  children 
who  repeat  are  yet  well  within  the  normal  age  for  their 
grade. 

In  estimating  school  expenditure  the  usual  inquiry  is 
the  average  expenditure  for  each  child  in  the  school  sys- 
tem. The  more  significant  standard  is  the  average  cost  of 
advancing  each  child  one  grade.  If  the  time  lost  by  pu- 
pils advancing  more  slowly  than  the  normal  rate  is  equal 
to  the  time  gained  by  children  who  make  rapid  progress, 
the  average  per  capita  cost  of  keeping  all  children  in 
school  for  one  year  and  advancing  all  of  them  one  grade  is 
just  the  same.  In  school  systems  where  time  lost  by  chil- 
dren making  slowT  progress  is  in  excess  of  time  gained  by 
children  making  rapid  progress,  the  cost  of  sending  each 
child  forward  one  grade  is  greater  than  the  cost  of  keep- 
ing each  child  in  school  one  year.  The  amount  of  excess 
cost  of  one  year's  advance  over  one  year's  schooling  de- 
pends upon  the  ratio  of  years  lost  to  years  gained.  In  the 
average  American  city  there  are  ten  times  as  many  chil- 
dren making  slow  progress  as  there  are  making  rapid  prog- 
ress. (Pamphlet  77,  Russell  Sage  Foundation).  The 
average  cost  of  advancing  the  children  one  year  is,  there- 
fore, considerably  greater  than  the  cost  of  keeping  them  in 
school  one  year. 


24 


SPECIAL  REPORT 


V — Number  on  the  promotion  list,  number  promoted,  number  not  promoted, 
number  receiving  double  promotions;  percentage  not  promoted,  percentage  receiving 
double  promotions,  for  the  two  semesters  of  the  school  year  1913-1914. 


Grade 

Pro- 
motion 
list 

Promoted 

Not 
promoted 

Percentage 
not 
promoted 

Double 
pro- 
motions 

Percentage 
double 
promotions 

I  
II  
Ill  
IV  
V  
VI 

757 
609 
547 
650 
631 
611 

652 
598 
532 
631 
624 
597 

105 
11 
15 
19 

14 

13  8 
1  81 
2.74 
2.92 
1.11 
2  29 

98 
41 

37 
34 
23 
42 

12.94 
6.73 
6.78 
5.23 
3.65 
6  87 

VII  

603 

586 

17 

2.82 

4 

.66 

VIII     

542 

532 

10 

1  85 

1 

.185 

Total  

4,950 

4,752 

198 

4.00 

280 

5.65 

(As  there  are  two  semesters  in  each  term,  each  pupil  is 
counted  twice.  The  198  and  280  represent,  respectively, 
terms  lost  and  terms  gained. ) 

During  the  school  year  1913-14,  in  Boise,  there  were  99 
years  lost  as  against  140  years  gained.  Hence,  the  cost  of 
one  year's  advance  was  a  trifle  less  than  the  cost  of  keep- 
ing the  children  in  school  for  one  year.  The  excess  of 
years  gained  over  years  lost  was  41.  The  average  per  cap- 
ita cost  of  one.  year's  attendance  was  f 38.00;  thus 
41x|38.00  equals  $1,558.00.  The  total  cost  of  advancing 
all  the  children  one  grade  was  $1,558.00  less  than  the  cost 
of  keeping  them  all  in  school  for  one  year.  (Pamphlet 
III,  Kussell  Sage  Foundation). 

VI — Number  on  the  promotion  list,  number  promoted,  number  not  promoted, 
number  receiving  double  promotions;  percentage  not  promoted,  percentage  receiving 
double  promotions  for  the  two  semesters  of  the  school  year  1914-1915. 


Grade 

Pro- 
motion 
list 

Promoted 

Not 
promoted 

Percentage 
not 
promoted 

Double 
pro- 
motions 

Percentage 
double 
promotions 

I      

713 

662 

51 

7. 

89 

12. 

11  
Ill  
IV 

546 
665 

622 

532 
656 
609 

14 
9 
13 

2.5 
1.3 
••> 

43 
54 
45 

7.9 
8. 
7. 

V  
VI            

614 

589 

611 
581 

3 
8 

.5 
1  4 

43 
49 

7. 
8.3 

VII  
VIII           

600 
542 

588 
529 

12 
13 

2. 
2.4 

5 

2 

.8 
.4 

Total  

4,891 

4,768 

123 

2-5 

330 

6.7 

(As  there  are  two  semesters  in  each  term,  each  pupil  is 
counted  twice.  The  123  and  330  represent,  respectively, 
terms  lost  and  terms  gained.) 

During  the  school  year  1914-15,  there  were  (>1  years  lost 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


25 


as  against  165  years  gained,  as  shown  by  Table  VI.  The 
excess  of  years  gained  over  years  lost  was  104.  Hence,  the 
total  cost  of  advancing  all  the  children  one  grade  during 
the  year  1914-15,  estimated  as  for  the  year  1913-14,  was 
104xf38.00  or  $3,952.00  less  than  the  cost  of  keeping  them 
all  in  school  for  one  year.  In  all  grades  during  the  pres- 
ent year  the  double  promotions  represent  6.7  of  the  total 
Avhile  the  failures  represent  2.5.  For  the  present  year, 
also,  7  per  cent  of  the  first  grade  failed  while  12  per  cent 
were  double  promoted.  In  every  grade  the  double  promo- 
tions were  materially  in  excess  of  the  failures. 

Very  few  pupils  can  be  kept  in  the  elementary  school 
after  they  are  fifteen  years  of  age.  This  is  the  age  at 
which  they  almost  invariably  leave  school,  whether  they 
have  completed  the  course  or  not.  If  we  wish  to  increase 
the  number  completing  the  elementary  school  course  and 
thereby  swell  the  number  entering  the  high  school,  wre  must 
get  more  children  through  the  grades  before  they  reach 
the  age  of  fifteen. 

TABI,E  VII — Grade  distribution  in  the  Boise  schools,  June,  1911,  and  June,  1915 , 
reduced  to  a  scale  of  1 ,000  for  the  first  primary  grade,  and  the  same  ratio  main- 
tained for  each  of  the  succeeding  grades. 


Grade 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

1910-11  

1,000 

873  • 

764 

920 

777 

842 

582 

502 

1914-15    

1  000 

742 

906 

782 

888 

797 

777 

811 

In  1911,  57  per  cent  of  the  pupils  were  in  the  first  four 
grades  and  43  per  cent  in  the  last  four  grades.  In  1915, 
the  primary  grades  included  but  51  per  cent  of  the  total 
while  the  fourth  to  the  eighth  grades,  inclusive,  contained 
49  per  cent.  The  increased  proportion  of  the  pupils  in  the 
last  four  grades  in  the  year  1914-15,  show  that  just  as  the 
number  making  slow  progress  is  decreased  and  the  num- 
ber advancing  rapidly  is  increased,  the  power  of  the 
school  to  retain  the  pupils  until  they  have  completed  the 
entire  elementary  school  course  is  correspondingly  in- 
creased. The  proportion  of  pupils  in  the  eighth  grade  in 
June,  1915,  was  60  per  cent  greater  than  in  June,  1911. 
For  every  five  pupils  who  in  1911  completed  the  course, 
eight  children  finished  the  eighth  grade  in  1915.  The  ad- 
justment of  school  machinery  to  the  needs  and  abilities  of 


26  SPECIAL  REPORT 

unusually  dull   children    and   exceptionally  bright  pupils 
has  prevented  three-fifths  of  the  elimination  or  leakage. 

The  teachers  of  Boise  feel,  then,  that  their  use  of  an  in- 
dividual standard  for  promoting  pupils,  rather  than  a  uni- 
form standard  for  an  entire  grade,  has  given  the  following 
results : 

1.  The  average  cost  of  advancing  a  pupil  in  school  is 
somewhat  reduced. 

2.  A  larger  proportion  of  the  pupils  is  held  in  school 
during  entire  elementary  course. 

3.  Conditions  of  efficiency  in  the  lower  grades  are  im- 
proved by    lessening    the    congestion    there — congestion 
which  means  not  merely  too  great  numbers,  but  means 
also  a  group  of  laggards  who  are  an  undue  drag  on  the 
work  of  the  entire  grade. 

4.  Exceptional  pupils,  both  above  and  below  the  aver- 
age, receive  more  nearly  the  kind  of  treatment  which  is 
suited  to  them. 


SUPERVISION  OF  INSTRUCTION. 

There  are  in  the  public  schools  of  the  United  States  two 
prevailing  systems  for  supervising  instruction  in  the 
grades  : 

1.  Supervision  by  the  ward  principal,  who  is  the  ad- 
ministrative leader  in  his  own  district  and  who  is  also  the 
supervisor  of  instruction  in  his  own  building. 

2.  The  supervision  of  instruction  is  intrusted  to  those 
who  have  no  administrative  responsibility   in   any   dis- 
trict and  are  thus  released  from  all  administrative  control 
but  are  held  responsible  for  instruction   in  a  group   of 
buildings. 

In  Boise  the  latter  method  has  been  adopted.  Super- 
vision of  instruction  for  the  first  four  grades  for  the  en- 
tire city  has  been  assigned  to  a  primary  supervisor,  and 
for  the  next  four  grades  to  a  grammar  grade  supervisor. 
Specialists  have  charge  of  music,  art,  health,  physical  edu- 
cation, manual  training,  and  household  economics.  This 
is  the  generally  accepted  method  of  directing  instruction 
in  these  newer  school  activities.  But  the  Boise  method  of 
supervising  instruction  in  the  formal  and  traditional  sub- 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  27 

jects  is  not  so  uniformly  accepted.  It  has,  however,  for  a 
small  system  of  schools  some  distinct  advantages.  There 
are  in  Boise  two  buildings  with  sixteen  teachers,  each, 
two  with  twelve,  one  with  ten,  one  with  seven,  one  with 
six,  and  two  with  four,  each.  No  group  of  teachers  in  any 
district  is  large  enough,  economically,  to  occupy  all  the 
time  of  an  efficient  principal  in  problems  of  school  control 
and  instruction.  Hence  the  ward  principal  method  of 
supervision  of  instruction  would  demand  that  the  princi- 
pal of  the  building  should  devote  a  part  of  his  time  tc 
teaching,  a  part  to  problems  of  school  management,  and 
a  part  to  supervising  instruction.  His  energies  are  there- 
fore so  dispersed  that  he  is  not  likely  to  be  thoroughly  ef- 
fective in  any  field.  But  with  an  efficient  corps  of 
teachers,  each  assuming  the  responsibilities  for  solving  her 
own  problems  of  school  management,  the  principal  may 
devote  all  his  time  in  school  hours  to  instruction  and  dis- 
pose of  problems  of  control  in  out-of-school  hours.  The 
extra  salary  paid  the  principal  may  procure  exceptional 
teaching  ability,  and  may  legitimately  be  charged  to  in- 
struction because  the  talent  it  purchases  is  devoted  to  a 
superior  quality  of  teaching.  The  Boise  system  of  organi- 
zation thus  permits  even  a  small  city  to  employ  two  thor- 
oughly trained  supervisors  of  instruction  without  devoting 
too  great  a  proportion  of  its  funds  to  supervision.  But 
the  low  cost  of  this  system  is  not  its  chief  merit.  The  two 
supervisors  being  relieved  from  all  responsibility  for 
school  management  and  teaching,  not  being  immersed  in 
the  day  to  day  routine  problems  of  the  school  building  nnd 
the  classroom,  may  devote  all  their  thought,  all  their  skill, 
and  all  their  energy  to  the  one  aim, — improvement  of  the 
results  of  instruction.  The  two  grade  supervisors  and 
the  principal  of  the  high  school  in  co-operation  with  the 
superintendent  determine  what  ideals  and  aims  shall  uni- 
fy and  vitalize  instruction  throughout  the  entire  system. 
The  same  agents  organize  the  machinery  and  devices  for 
the  realization  of  the  policy  agreed  upon  and  test 
the  results  of  that  policy  as  they  are  achieved. 
Should  nine  ward  principals,  absorbed  in  problems 
of  control,  management,  and  class  instruction,  at- 
tempt to  formulate  policies  of  instruction,  and  di- 
rect their  execution,  the  result  would  be  a  loss  of 


SPECIAL  REPORT 

unity  and  efficiency.  All  the  teachers  of  a  given  grade 
being  under  the  same  supervisor,  the  same  standard  of 
achievement  is  required  of  all  and  the  same  tests  are  ap- 
plied to  determine  the  relative  efficiency.  The  stimulat- 
ing effect  of  this  is  marked.  If  there  be  a  laggard  in  the 
force,  the  fact  is  soon  apparent  not  only  to  the  supervisor 
but  to  all  the  other  teachers.  If  there  is  inefficiency  any- 
where, that,  too,  is  soon  known  everywhere.  Everyone  is 
thus  kept  up  to  her  maximum  ability,  not  by  any  offensive 
and  individual  pressure,  but  by  standards  applied  to  the 
results  achieved  by  all  workers  in  the  same  field.  Such 
standards  are  never  unfair  and  offensively  personal. 
Were  there  nine  superviors  of  the  same  grade,  there 
would  be  nine  standards  whereby  to  estimate  efficiency. 

The  argument  is  sometimes  advanced  that  the  applica- 
tion of  a  uniform  standard  tends  to  grade  down  as  well  as 
up,  to  reduce  all  to  the  dead  level  of  uniformity  rather 
than  to  stimulate  individual  initiative.  This  is  surely 
not  true  in  the  Boise  system  of  supervision.  Individual 
initiative  and  exceptional  achievement  by  any  teacher  in 
a  given  grade  not  only  meets  with  the  commendation  of 
the  supervisor  but  is  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  other 
teachers  of  the  same  grade.  One  of  the  methods  used  to 
this  end  is  that  of  assembling  all  the  teachers  of  a  given 
grade  to  observe  the  work  of  exceptional  merit.  Distinct- 
ive achievement  is,  therefore,  rewarded  by  exceptional  edu- 
cational prominence.  If  the  system  of  supervision  of  in- 
struction by  ward  principals  were  in  operation,  exception- 
al merit  could  not  be  so  quickly  determined  and  rewarded. 

The  advantages  of  the  system  of  supervision  of  instruc- 
tion for  the  grades  adopted  in  Boise  may  be  briefly  sum- 
marized as  follows :  It  relieves  the  supervisors  of  instruc- 
tion from  all  duties  of  school  management;  it  is  effective 
in  producing  co-ordination  and  continuity  throughout  the 
system;  it  clarifies  aims  and  hastens  their  realization;  it 
creates  uniform  standards  and  applies  uniform  measures 
of  achievements;  and  it  stimulates  and  rewrards  individual 
initiative. 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 
ENGLISH  IN  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL. 

During  a  period  covering  the  last  six  years  an  investi- 
gation and  an  experiment  in  the  improvement  of  English 
usage  and  the  mechanics  of  English  have  been  carried  on 
in  the  elementary  schools  of  Boise  in  an  effort  to  define 
our  situation  and  to  find  a  more  exact  means  of  measuring 
and  a  more  satisfactory  method  of  improving  it. 

A.    AN  INVESTIGATION  IN  ENGLISH  USAGE. 

In  an  attempt  to  get  an  effective  method  of  dealing  with 
the  common  errors  in  English  speech  the  teachers  in  the 
elementary  school  were  asked  to  observe  with  care  for  a 
given  period  the  mistakes  in  the  use  of  English  which  their 
pupils  made  in  conversations  on  the  playground,  in  the 
schoolroom,  and  in  recitation.  The  teachers  then  listed 
these  errors  and  reported. 

The  lists  of  this  first  report  were  collated  and  classified. 
When  classified  the  fact  which  stood  out  most  clearly  was 
that  the  multitudinous  errors  in  speech  are  due  to  the  fre- 
quent repetition  of  a  few  incorrect  forms.  Practically  all 
the  errors  reported  could  be  classified  under  six  heads; 
namely,  verb  errors,  double  negatives,  mispronunciations, 
misuse  of  pronouns,  adverb  errors  and  colloquialisms. 
Mispronunciations  in  this  classification  includes  those 
which  may  properly  be  called  language  errors,  as  "jist"  for 
"just,"  "git"  for  "get,"  "ketch"  for  "catch,"  and  others  of 
a  like  nature  and  does  not  include  mispronunciations  due 
to  unfamiliarity  with  a  word.  In  this  effort  there  was  no 
attempt  to  deal  with  the  fine  points,  the  niceties  of  speech. 
Only  the  gross  and  glaring  crudities  of  English  were  con- 
sidered. 

In  detail,  this  classification  was  as  follows : 

1.     Verbs : 

a.  Past  and  perfect  participle  confused. 

b.  Misuse  of  had  and  got,  use  of  ain't 

c.  Agreement  with  subject  in  number;  e.  g.,  "He 

don't." 

d.  Sequence  of  tenses. 

e.  Uses  of  shall  and  will. 


30  SPECIAL  REPORT 

f.      Use  of  "and"  with  infinitive;  e.  g.  "try  and 
go." 

2.  Double  negatives. 

3.  Pronunciations — Just,  get,  final    g,    for,    asked, 

February,  height. 

4.  Pronouns : 

a.  Case  forms : 

(1)  In  compound  subject. 

(2)  Object  of  preposition  or  verb. 

(3)  After  copula. 

(4)  In  compounds;  e.  g.,  "theirselves." 

b.  Pronoun  used  for  adjective;     e.     g.,     "them 

books." 

c.  In  double  subjects;  e.  g.,  "John  he  did  the 

work." 

d.  Indefinite  reference. 

5.  Adverbs : 

a.  Use  of  adjective  for  adverb. 

b.  This  here,  that  there,  etc. 

6.  Colloquialisms,  provincialisms: 

"Lots"  for  many  or  much;  "mad"  for  angry; 
"learn"  for  teach;  "get"  with  infinitive,  as, 
"get  to  go;"  "like"  as  a  conjunction,  as,  "He 
felt  like  he  could  do  it;"  introductory  "well," 
"why,"  "now,"  "so." 

This  outline  was  given  to  the  teachers  and  they  were 
asked  to  watch  for  errors  on  these  points  for  a  given  time 
and  report  again.  This  second  report  specified  the  errors 
noted  under  each  head  of  the  outline  and  recorded  also 
the  comparative  frequency  of  occurrence.  When  these  re- 
ports were  collected  and  tabulated  it  was  possible  to  tell 
what  our  situation  was.  As  yet,  no  scientific  exactness 
can  be  claimed  for  the  results  obtained  in  this  way. 
Though  there  was  not  scientific  accuracy  in  obtaining  the 
data,  there  is  such  a  uniformity  of  results  in  the  reports 
as  to  justify  certain  conclusions. 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

TABLE  I — Classification  of  errors. 


31 


Grades 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Total 

1  Verbs 

49  5 

48  1 

32  8 

34  0 

40  9 

43.7 

37.0 

36.6 

40.1 

3.6 

3  3 

3.2 

3.2 

3.7 

3.3 

3.2 

2.9 

3.4 

3  Pronunciation  
4  Pronouns    
5  Adverbs    ...    .         

16.0 
18.8 

5.5 

18.1 
17.1 
4.7 

21.8 
16.8 
5.8 

22.5 
17,2 
6.1 

16.6 
19.3 
6.4 

21.6 
14.9 

5.2 

24.7 
14.9 
5.8 

17.3 
18.3 
6.9 

20.4 
17.2 
5.8 

6  Colloquialisms,  etc  

8.2 

).0 

14.9 

14.8 

12.9 

11.5 

12-3 

18.3 

12.9 

Table  I  shows  the  percentages  of  errors  in  each  grade 
that  are  due  to  each  of  the  six  classes  of  mistakes.  Of  the 
total  errors  reported  from  the  eight  grades  40.1  per  cent 
are  verb  errors,  3.4  per  cent  are  double  negatives ;  mispro- 
nunciations cause  20.4  per  cent,  the  misuse  of  pronouns 
17.2  per  cent,  adverb  errors  5.8  per  cent,  and  colloquial- 
isms 12.9  per  cent.  According  to  these  totals  over  sixty 
per  cent  of  the  errors  are  due  to  misuse  of  verbs  and  mis- 
pronunciations. 

The  most  disconcerting  feature  of  the  table  is  disclosed 
by  a  consideration  of  the  percentages  by  grades.  Verbs 
cause  the  following  percentages  of  the  total  errors :  First 
grade  49.5,  second  grade  48.1,  third  grade  32.8,  fourth 
grade  34.0,  fifth  grade  40.9,  sixth  grade  43.7,  seventh  grade 
37.0,  and  eighth  grade  36.6.  Mispronunciations  for  the 
eight  grades  in  order  run  as  follows :  16.0,  18.1,  21.8,  22.5, 
16.6,  21.6,  24.7,  17.3.  The  percentages  for  misuse  of  pro- 
nouns for  the  grades  in  order  are  18.8,  17.1,  16.S,  17.2, 
19.3,  14.9,  14.9,  18.3.  On  these  last  two  the  record  for  the 
first  and  eighth  grades  are  nearly  the  same,  with  but  slight 
variation  in  the  grades  between.  Double  negatives  run 
with  even  less  variation  as  follows :  3.6,  3.3,  3.2,  3.2,  3.7, 
3.3,  3.2,  2.9.  The  total  variation  on  this  point  is  only 
eight-tenths  of  a  per  cent.  The  first  grade  records  3.6,  the 
seventh  3.2,  but  the  eighth  grade  drops  to  2.9.  On  adverb 
errors  the  evidence  is  nearly  the  same  but  the  eighth  grade 
percentage  of  error  is  higher  than  that  of  the  first  or  sec- 
ond grade.  This  may  be  due  in  part  to  greater  exactness 
of  the  eighth  grade  teachers  in  scoring,  their  teaching  of 
technical  grammar  making  them  keener  to  note  this  point, 
and  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  upper  grade  pupils  use 
more  modifying  elements  in  their  sentences  than  the 


32 


SPECIAL  REPORT 


younger  children  and  consequently  they  have  more  fre- 
quent opportunity  for  error.  On  colloquilalisuis  the  re- 
cord of  an  increasing  percentage  of  error  in  the  higher 
grades  is  due  to  more  exacting  standards  on  the  part  of 
upper  grade  teachers  in  noting  these  errors.  The  primary 
grades  recorded  chiefly  the  use  of  "lots"  for  "many," 
"mad"  for  "angry,"  "learn"  for  "teach,"  some  provincial 
perfect  tense  forms,  and  the  use  of  unnecessary  introduc- 
tory words  as  "well,"  "why,"  "now,"  "so."  The  higher 
grades  record  a  much  greater  variety  of  errors  as  "in"  for 
"into,"  "between  for  "among,"  "without  for  unless,"  "go 
to"  for  "intend  to,"  "took  and,"  "went  and,"  "kind  of," 
"what  for"  instead  of  "why,"  "guess"  for  "think,"  "can" 
for  "may ;"  use  of  superlative  for  comparative  degree,  "at" 
as  in  "Where  is  it  at?"  "yet  these  expressions  are  not  re- 
stricted in  their  use  to  the  grammar  grades. 

When  the  investigation  had  progressed  this  far,  two 
points  were  especially  prominent.  The  first  period  of  ob- 
servation disclosed  the  fact  that  the  great  mass  of  English 
errors  fall  readily  into  six  classes.  The  tabulation  of  the 
results  of  the-  second  period  of  observation  showed  that 
the  percentage  of  error  due  to  these  causes  was  relatively 
constant  or  increased  slightly  through  the  grades. 

TABLE  II— Distribution  of  verb  errors. 


Grades 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

o 

7 

8 

Total 

1  Perfect  participle                .... 

52.8 

47  3 

45  0 

48.3 

44  7 

48  3 

59  6 

47  3 

48  8 

2  Use  of  ''ain't"  and  misuse  of 

22  2 

18  8 

21  0 

22  9 

22  4 

19  8 

15  8 

18  9 

20  4 

3  Lack  of  agreement  with  sub- 
iect  in  number  

7.4 

7.9 

10.0 

9.2 

9.2 

7.7 

8.8 

8.4 

8.2 

1  8 

9 

4  0 

1  i 

3  8 

4  4 

4  0 

2  6 

5  Misuse  of  "shall"  and  "will" 
6  Use  of  "and"  with  infinitive 

2-8 

5  5 

6.9 

4  9 

3.0 
8  0 

4.6 
4  6 

7.9 

5  2 

6.6 

5  5 

7.0 

3  5 

6.7 
8  1 

5.4 

5  7 

7  Colloqialisms  etc.        

7  4 

12  8 

9  0 

9  2 

6  6 

7  7 

5  2 

9  4 

8.6 

Verb  errors  causing  40.1  per  cent  of  the  total  errors 
reported,  they  were  further  tabulated.  Table  II  shows 
the  distribution  of  verb  errors  in  the  seven  classes  of  er- 
rors reported.  Of  the  total  of  verb  errors  almost  fifty  per 
cent,  48.8  per  cent,  are  due  to  confusion  of  past  and  perfect 
participle  forms  and  this  percentage  is  comparatively  con- 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


33 


stant  throughout  the  grades.  To  this  fifty  per  cent  of 
verb  errors  may  be  added  twenty  per  cent,  again  relatively 
uniform  throughout  the  grades,  due  to  the  use  of  "ain't" 
and  the  misuse  of  "had"  as  in  "had  ought,"  and  of  "got" 
as  in  "have  got."  This  makes  seventy  per  cent  of  the  verb 
errors  or  almost  thirty  per  cent  of  the  total  errors  heard 
from  our  pupils  due  to  confusion  of  past  and  perfect  par- 
ticiple forms,  the  use  of  "ain't,"  and  the  misuse  of  "had'' 
and  "got."  Lack  of  agreement  with  the  subject  in  number 
totals  8.2  per  cent  of  the  verb  errors,  and  colloquialisms 
in,  the  use  of  verbs,  as  "get  to  go,"  "try  and  see"  for  "try 
to  see,"  etc.,  total  8.6  per  cent. 

The  report  from  each  teacher  showed  the  score  on  the 
verbs  she  heard  misused.  On  combining  these  reports  it 
was  found  that  a  very  few  verbs  cause  the  majority  of  the 
errors.  Each  verb  reported  by  a  number  of  the  teachers 
was  scored  separately  and  all  others  were  combined.  This 
tabulation  showed  that  thirteen  verbs  cause  85.1  per  cent 
of  all  the  errors  in  past  tense  and  perfect  participles  re- 
ported and  of  these  thirteen,  four  verbs,  see,  do,  come,  go, 
caused  51.8  per  cent  of  the  errors. 

TABLE  III — Percentage  of  errors  in  past  tense  and  perfect  participles  classified. 


Grades 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Total 

14.0 

14  6 

22.2 

21.4 

17.6 

15.9 

14  7 

14.2 

16  8 

I1  2 

8  3 

11  I 

16  6 

8  8 

9  1 

8  8 

5  7 

10  3 

do  

12  2 

12.5 

15.5 

19.0 

17.6 

13  6 

11  7 

17  1 

14.7 

7  0 

12  5 

13  3 

7  1 

8  8 

13  6 

8  8 

8  6 

10  0 

7  0 

8  3 

6  6 

0  0 

5  8 

6  8 

8  8 

8  6 

5  9 

7  0 

6  3 

2  2 

9  5 

5  8 

6  8 

0  0 

0  0 

5  0 

break 

5  2 

2  1 

0  0 

0  0 

2  9 

0  0 

0  0 

5  7 

">  0 

lie    

7  0 

2  1 

"j  *> 

7  1 

8  8 

4  5 

2  9 

0  0 

4  4 

3  5 

6  3 

6  6 

2  4 

5  8 

6  8 

2  9 

0  0 

4  4 

begin  

0 

4  I 

2.2 

0.0 

2.9 

9  1 

5  8 

5  7 

3  5 

o 

4  1 

4  4 

2  4 

0  0 

4  5 

0  0 

8  6 

2  9 

take  

.0 

2  1 

4.4 

2.4 

5  8 

2  3 

0  0 

0  0 

2.0 

write 

o 

">  1 

2  2 

2  4 

8  8 

4  5 

2  9 

5  7 

3  2 

all  others  

24  5 

14  5 

6.6 

9.5 

0.0 

2  3 

32.3 

25  7 

14.4 

Thus  far  in  our  attempt  we  had  only  defined  our  situa- 
tion. Up  to  this  time  the  task  of  correcting  English  had 
seemed  huge  and  indefinable,  there  seemed  so  many  er- 
rors, and  each  pupil  had  his  own  list  of  difficulties.  He 
did  not  know  just  what  they  were  and  the  teacher  did  not 
know.  Maybe  he  did  not  know  of  a  single  error  he  was 
making,  maybe  the  teacher  could  mention  several  as  be- 
longing to  a  given  pupil  and  maybe  she  could  only  say 


SI'KCIAL  KKPOKT 

that  she  heard  sm-h  and  such  errors  in  her  room  but  that 
she  felt  there  were  many  others.  Yet,  by  this  tabulation, 
the  great  majority  of  the  errors  fell  easily  into  six  classes. 

Before  proceeding  to  remedies  for  the  situation  it  was 
desirable  to  get  a  record  of  individual  status  with  regard 
to  these  points  in  order  to  measure  progress.  To  get  a 
record  on  all  these  points  would  not  be  impossible  but  it 
would  take  much  time  to  secure  it  so  it  was  decided  to 
obtain  the  standing  of  the  pupils  on  a  part  of  the  points 
only.  For  the  first  four  grades  the  pupils  were  scored  on 
their  use  of  the  verbs  see,  come,  do,  and  go,  and  the  next 
four  grades,  in  addition  to  these,  were  scored  on  the  use 
of  ain't,  the  misuse  of  had  and  got,  double  negatives,  mis- 
pronunciations, misuse  of  pronouns  and  adverbs.  Each 
teacher  prepared  a  card  bearing  the  names  of  her  pupils 
down  the  left  hand  side  followed  by  columns  labeled  with 
the  various  errors.  The  teacher  then  tried  by  a  conversa- 
tion with  the  individual,  carried  on  in  a  rather  free  and 
easy,  unstilted  fashion,  on  the  playground  or  in  study  pe- 
riod, to  get  each  pupil's  record  on  these  points  for  five  uses 
of  the  point  she  was  scoring.  The  teacher's  attempt  was 
to  get  the  record  without  the  pupil  suspecting  her  aim. 
These  records  were  completed  comparatively  early  in  the 
second  year's  work  on  English  usage.  Upon  the  comple- 
tion of  the  records  the  teacher  conferred  with  the  individ- 
ual over  his  status  and  the  pupil  then  knew  for  the  first 
time  just  how  frequently  he  was  apt  to  make  certain  mis- 
takes and  he  could  the  more  intelligently  correct  himself. 
Varying  exercises  for  drill  on  correct  forms  were  devised 
and  used  throughout  the  year  and  the  pupils  were  encour- 
aged in  every  way  to  greater  alertness  in  eliminating  their 
own  mistakes  on  the  points  scored  and  on  others. 

In  June  the  pupils  were  tested  a  second  time  according 
to  the  former  plan  and  a  very  striking  improvement  was 
indicated.  But  there  were  several  factors  which  operated 
to  make  the  figures  unreliable  as  an  exact  measure  of 
progress.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  impossible  to  obtain 
the  second  record  without  the  pupil's  realizing  the  purpose 
so  they  were  careful  in  the  expressions  used.  At  the  close 
of  the  first  semester  most  of  the  classes  passed  to  a  differ- 
ent teacher  so  that  the  conditions  of  giving  the  second  test 
probably  varied  from  the  first  one  to  some  extent.  Some 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  35 

few  teachers  obtained  their  second  record  by  means  of 
written  work.  As  written  work  is  more  studied  than  oral 
such  records  were  unsatisfactory.  Despite  these  factors 
which  tended  to  make  the  figures  an  inexact  measure  of 
progress,  the  evidence  of  marked  gains  were  indisputable. 
Owing  to  the  fact  that  tests  along  different  lines  were 
undertaken  during  the  next  year,  no  attempt  was  made  to 
obtain  each  pupil's  record  on  the  points  investigated,  but 
each  teacher  had  the  previous  year's  record  for  her  pupils 
and  the  different  points  in  the  list  were  assigned  to  the 
various  grades  for  especial  corrective  drill.  Subsequent 
work  has  followed  substantially  this  plan  and  the  definite 
field  of  attack  has  rendered  the  corrective  work  more  in- 
telligent and  more  effective  than  formerly. 


B.     THE  MECHANICS  OF  ENGLISH. 

In  the  past  five  years  there  has  been  developed  a  plan 
for  measuring  the  success  of  the  teaching  of  forma!  Eng- 
lish. In  the  first  two  years  of  this  period  each  teachers 
program  provided  for  five  English  lessons  each  week.  This 
term  included  story-telling,  dramatization,  correction  of 
errors  in  English  usage,  above  the  third  grade  a  written 
lesson  each  week  with  correction  of  errors,  and  the  teach- 
ing of  points  outlined: 


Elementary  Language. 
FIRST  GRADE— 

I.  Capitals :    1,  beginning  of  sentence ;  2,  proper  names. 

II.  Punctuation,  period  at  end  of  sentence. 

SECOND  GRADE 

I.  Capitals:     1,  beginning     of     sentence;     2,     proper 
names;  3,  Mr.,  Mrs.,  Miss,  I. 

II.  Punctuation:     1,  period  at    end    of    sentence;  2, 
question  mark.     (Teacher  give  correct    form    when    re 
quired.) 


36  SPECIAL  REPORT 

THIRD  GRADE— 

I.  Capitals :    1,  names  of  days  and  months ;  2,  abbrev- 
iations of  names  of  days  and  months ;  3,  names  of  persons 
and  places. 

II.  Punctuation :    1,  question  mark;  2,  period. 

FOURTH  GRADE— 

I.  Capitals:    1,  initials;  2,  direct  quotations;  3,  names 
of  Deity  and  Bible ;  4,  every  line  of  poetry. 

II.  Punctuation :     1,  exclamation  point ;  2,  quotation 
marks  and  comma  in  direct  quotations;   3,   comma  after 
name  of  person  addressed ;  4,  apostrophe  to  denote  posses- 
sion.    (Teacher  distinguish  between  singular  and  plural 
form  when  occasion  requires). 

III.  Heading  of  papers. 

IV.  Paragraph  and  margin. 

V.  Friendship  letters. 

FIFTH  GRADE— 

I.  Punctuation :    1,  comma  in  a  series ;  2,  apostrophe 
in  contractions,. in  possessive,  singular  and  plural;  3,  hy- 
phen in  word  separated  at  end  of  line. 

II.  Paragraph,  margin. 

III.  Simple  business  letters,  order  for  papers,  etc. 

SIXTH  GRADE — 

I.  Punctuation,  comma  in  appositive  expressions  and 
interjected  expressions. 

II.  Business  letters. 

III.  Longer  orders. 

IV.  Applications  for  positions. 

V.  Answers  to  advertisements. 

SEVENTH  GRADE — 

I.  Invitations  and  answers. 

II.  O,  oh. 

EIGHTH  GRADE— 

1.  Simple  compositions,  maximum  of  one  page,  for  test- 
ing command  of  language,  and  correct  use  of  punctuation 
marks. 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  37 

After  the  use  of  this  outline  for  two  years,  an  exercise 
formulated  by  the  head  of  the  English  department*  of  the 
high  school  was  used  to  test  accuracy  in  the  mechanics  of 
writing  a  simple  passage  in  English.  This  test  was  given 
early  in  the  first  term  of  the  school  year  1911-12  in  all 
the  grades  above  the  third  in  the  elementary  schools  and 
throughout  the  high  school.  Another  test  of  a  similar  na- 
ture was  given  just  before  the  close  of  the  first  semester 
and  a  third  was  given  near  the  end  of  the  school  year. 
These  three  tests  were  prepared  by  the  same  person  and 
were  given  according  to  exact  directions. 

First  Testy  Given  in  September,  1911. 

Two  pots  had  been  left  on  the  bank  of  a  river,  one  of 
brass,  and  one  of  earthenware.  When  the  tide  rose  they 
both  floated  off  down  the  stream.  Now  the  earthen  pot 
tried  its  best  to  keep  aloof  from  the  brass  one  which  cried 
out:  "Fear  nothing,  friend,  I  will  not  strike  you."  "But 
I  may  come  too  close  to  you,"  said  the  other,  "and  whether 
I  hit  you,  or  you  hit  me,  I  shall  suffer  for  it." 

Directions  to  Dictator. 

1.  Read  entire  fable  to  class  once. 

2.  Read  sentence  1  twice.     Give  signal,  "AYrite." 

3.  Read  sentence  2  twice,  etc. 

4.  Read  sentence  3  to  colon  twice, etc. 

5.  Complete  the  reading  of  sentence  3,  etc. 

6.  Read  sentence  4  to  "and  whether,"  etc. 

7.  Complete  sentence  4,  etc. 

Directions  for  Marking. 

Capitals.  Punctuation.                           Spelling. 

1-3.     Beginning     of  1.     Colon   (sentence  3).  1.  two,  to,  too. 

sentences     2,  2-3.     Commas   before   and  2.   earthenware. 

3,    4.  after  friend.  3.  tide. 

4.  Fear,       (sen-  4-5.     Commas  before   and  4.  floated. 

tence  3).  after     said    the          5.   its. 

5.  I  (sentence  4).  other.  6.   tried. 

6.      Quotation       marks  7.  aloof. 

(sentence  3).  8.  one. 

7-10.   Quotation      marks  9.  which. 

(sentence   4).  10.  whether. 

*  Prepared  by  Miss  Katherine  Forster  as  part  of  a  study  which 
she  made  for  the  English  Department  of  the  University  of  Chicago. 


38 


SPECIAL  REPORT 


TMrd  Test,  Given  in    May,  1912. 

"The  Fox  and  the  Goat." 

Once  a  fox  fell  into  a  well  and  could  not  get  out.  A 
goat  coming  by  asked  the  fox  what  he  was  doing  down 
there.  "I  am  drinking  this  sweet  water,"  said  the  fox. 
"Come  down  and  try  some."  When  the  goat  jumped  down 
the  fox  sprang  upon  the  goat's  back  and  leaped  out.  The 
goat  called,  "How  am  I  to  get  out?"  "You  should  have 
thought  of  that  before  you  got  in,"  replied  the  fox. 

The  directions  to  dictator  were  similar  to  those  in  Test 
1. 

Directions  for  Marking. 

Capitals.  Punctuation 

1.  A  goat 1.     Period   after  "there." 

2.  When  the  ....  2-3.  Quotation    marks,    "I 

3.  The  goat   ....  ....   water". 

4.  How  am....  4.      Comma      after 

5.  I  to    get  out?  "water". 

5.  Period  after   "some". 

6.  Apostrophe   in 

"goat's". 

Period  after  "out". 

Comma  after  "call- 
ed". 

Quotation  marks 
"How  .  .  .  .  out?" 

Question  mark  after 
"out". 

For  convenience  in  marking,  the  papers  were  ranked  on 
five  points  in  capitalization,  ten  in  punctuation,  and  ten 
in  spelling,  making  a  total  of  twenty-five  points,  each  re- 
ceiving four  per  cent.  Each  point  selected  was  chosen  as 
a  fair  test  of  ability  to  use  the  mechanics  of  writing  Eng- 
lish. 

TABLE  IV— Percentages  made  by  grades  in  the  dictation  tests  jor  September,  1911, 

and  May,  1912. 


1. 


9. 


10. 


Spelling. 

1.  could. 

2.  coming. 

3.  there. 

4.  water. 

5.  some. 

6.  sprang. 

7.  leaped   (or 

jumped). 

8.  called. 

9.  thought. 
10.   replied. 


Grade 

Capitals 

Purctuation 

Spelling 

Average 

Gain 

Sept. 
1911 

May 
1912 

Sept. 
1911 

May 
1912 

Sept. 
1911 

May 
1912 

Sept. 
1911 

May 
1912 

4B           

77 
79 
82 
79 
79 
80 
83 
90 
91 
91 

81 
84 
86 
87 
87 
91 
90 
91 
94 
95 

4 
11 
21 
19 
32 
43 
52 
61 
61 
62 

54 
60 
68 
72 
79 
84 
84 
84 
88 
89 

33 
42 
55 
56 
64 
76 
75 
79 
81 
84 

79 
84 
85 
87 
88 
90 
92 
93 
93 
95 

38 
44 
53 
51 
58 
66 
70 
77 
78 
79 

71 
76 
78 
83 
84 
88 
88 
89 
91 
93 

33 
32 
25. 
32 
26 
22 
18 
12 
13 
14 

4A 

5B    

5A 

6B    
6A       

7B 

7A   
8B 

8A 

BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


39 


Table  IV  shows  the  percentage  made  by  each  class  in 
capitalization,  punctuation,  spelling,  and  their  average. 
The  grades  recorded  on  any  one  line  for  September  and 
May  were  not  made  by  the  same  pupils  but  by  the  first 
and  second  term  classes  of  a  given  grade. 

The  most  striking  record  in  the  first  test  is  that  in  punc- 
tuation. The  percentages  are  very  low,  despite  the  fact 
that  for  over  two  years  the  pupils  had  been  taught  formal 
points  according  to  an  outline  arranged  definitely  and 
progressively.  As  compared  with  the  grades  in  punctua- 
tion, those  for  capitalization  are  fairly  satisfactory.  The 
very  poor  records  in  spelling  were  caused  chiefly  by  the 
"to,  too,  two"  combination,  by  "which,"  which  has  the 
record  for  being  misspelled  more  than  any  other  word*  in 
the  language,  by  "whether"  and  "its." 

After  this  first  test,  more  definite  work  in  teaching  the 
use  of  mechanical  points  was  given  in  each  grade  through- 
out the  year,  with  especial  stress  on  the  use  of  the  ques- 
tion mark  and  period  at  the  end  of  the  sentence,  the  punc- 
tuation of  a  divided  quotation,  the  exclamation  mark,  and 
capitals  for  the  beginning  of  a  sentence,  of  a  direct  quota- 
tion, and  of  a  proper  name.  Table  IV  shows  the  per- 
centages attained  after  the  year's  work  along  these  lines 
and  the  average  gain  made  by  each  class.  The  greatest 
gains  are  in  punctuation  but  the  gains  in  the  average  of 
the  capitalization,  punctuation,  and  spelling  are  marked 
also.  In  the  first  test,  that  for  September,  1911,  the  aver- 
age standing  ranged  from  38  per  cent  in  the  4B  to  79  per 
cent  in  the  8A,  a  difference  of  41  per  cent.  In  the  test  at 
the  end  of  the  year  the  lowest  standing  was  71  per  cent  in 
the  4B  and  the  highest  was  93  per  cent  in  the  8 A,  a  range 
of  22  per  cent.  The  greatest  gains  were  made  in  the 
fourth  and  fifth  grades  and  the  least  in  the  seventh  and 
eighth  grades  which  accounts  for  the  decrease  in  the  range 
of  percentages  attained.  The  average  gain  for  the  year 
was  22.7  per  cent.  This  is  practically  the  gain  of  the  sixth 
grade.  The  greatest  gains  were  attained  by  the  lower 
grades  because,  as  their  first  grades  indicate,  there  was  a 
greater  chance  for  improvement.  The  law  of  diminish- 
ing returns  may  account,  in  part,  for  the  relatively  small 

*  Concrete   Investigation   of  the   Material   of  English   Spelling  by 
Franklin  W.  Jones,  University  of  South  Dakota  Publication,  page  22. 


40 


SPECIAL  REPORT 


gains  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades;  and  the  fact  that 
grammar  is  introduced  in  the  middle  of  the  seventh  year 
and  the  number  of  lessons  in  composition  is,  at  that  time, 
reduced  from  five  to  three  a  week  will  account  for  a  part 
of  the  decrease. 

This  year's  work  demonstrated  clearly  that  our  previous 
work  had  not  produced  habits  of  correctness  and  accuracy 
in  writing  English,  and  that  the  additional  stress  on  me- 
chanical points  through  frequent  dictation  and  other  ex- 
ercises did  increase  precision  in  writing.  Therefore,  it 
was  decided  to  continue  the  use  of  such  exercises  with 
periodical  tests  of  a  similar  nature. 

Since  that  time  a  test  has  been  given  at  the  beginning 
and  the  close  of  each  semester.  The  tests  given  near  the 
end  of  the  semester  furnish  a  fair  estimate  of  the  work 
accomplished. 

In  1912  the  test  given  was : 

"The  Lamp  and  the  Sun." 
December,  1912. 

Once  a  lamp  stood  in  a  window  and  looked  at  the  net- 
ting sun.  "You  are  a  pretty  little  fellow,"  he  said  to  the 
sun,  "but  I  have  a  clearer,  finer,  brighter  light  than  you 
have."  "Puff!"  said  the  wind,  and  out  went  the  light. 
As  the  mistress  of  the  house  kindled  the  flame  again,  the 
wind  whispered,  "Perhaps  you'll  now  hold  your  peace. 
The  sun  and  the  stars  do  not  need  to  be  kindled  as  you 
do." 

Directions  to  Dictator. 

1.  Read  entire  story  to  class  once. 

2.  Read  sentence  1  twice.     Give  signal,  "Write." 

3.  Read  entire  sentence  2.     Reread  to  "but  I  have." 
Give  signal  to  write. 

4.  Read  remainder     of     sentence     2.     Give     signal, 

"Write." 

5.  Read  sentence  3  twice.     Give  signal,  "Write." 

6.  Read  entire  sentence  4.     Reread  to  "and  the  wind." 
Give  signal,  "Write." 

7.  Read  remainder    of      sentence      4.     Give      signal, 

"Write." 

8.  Read  last  sentence  twice.     Give  signal,  "Write." 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  41 

Directions  for  Marking. 

Grade  papers  without  correcting  them.  Let  the  first 
mark  be  for  capitals,  the  second  for  punctuation,  the  third 
for  spelling.  The  marks  should  represent  the  number  of 
points  that  are  correct.  Enter  grades  on  record  sheet 
with  grades  of  September  dictation  so  that  each  pupil  may 
keep  track  of  his  own  gains. 

Capitals.  Punctuation.                             Spelling. 

1.  You  are  a  1-   Quotations   marks  1.  lamp. 

2.  Puff  around     "You      .  .  2.  sun. 

3.  As    the    mistress  .  .   fellow".  3.  fellow. 

4.  Perhaps  2-3-4.  Commas   after    "fel-  4.  brighter. 
G!  The  sun  low",     "sun  ",  5.  went. 

"clearer".  6.  mistress. 

5.  Quotation     marks          7.  flame. 

around     "but      .  .          8.  again. 

.  .    you    have".  9.  whispered. 

6.  Exclamation       point        10.   perhaps. 

after    "Puff". 

7.  Quotation      marks 

around  "Puff". 

8.  Comma    after 

"again". 

9.  Apostrophe 

in  "you'll". 

10.   Period    after 
"peace". 

For  comparison  of  standings  of  two  consecutive  years 
the  test  of  1913,  "The  Fox  and  the  Cat,"  was  given  in 
1914. 

"The  Fox  and  the  Cat." 

December,  1913  and  1914. 

A  sly,  clever  fox  was  boasting  to  a  cat  of  his  tricks.  "I 
have  a  whole  bag  of  tricks,"  he  said,  "which  contains  a 
hundred  ways  of  escaping  my  enemies."  "I've  only  one," 
said  the  cat,  "but  it  has  always  served  me."  At  that  mo- 
ment they  heard  the  cry  of  a  pack  of  hounds  coming  to- 
ward them.  The  cat's  plan  was  simple.  She  ran  up  a 
tree  and  hid  herself  among  the  leaves.  Then  she  cried, 
"What  can  you  do,  Mr.  Fox?  Search  well  through  your 
bag  of  tricks."  The  fox  tried  all  his  hundred  tricks,  but 
the  hounds  caught  him  at  last. 


SPECIAL  REPORT 

Directions  to  Dictator. 

1.  Read  entire  story  to  class  once. 

2.  Head  sentence  1  twice.     Give  signal,  "Write." 

3.  Read  entire  sentence  2.     Reread  to  "which."     Give 

signal,  "Write." 

4.  Read  remainder    of    sentence      2.     Give      signal, 

"Write." 

5.  Read  the  rest  (except  the  last  sentence)  a  sentence 

at  a  time,  reading  each  sentence  twice  before  giv- 
ing signal  to  write. 

C.  Read  entire  last  sentence.  Reread  to  "but  the 
hounds."  Give  signal,  "Write." 

7.  Read  remainder  of  last  sentence.  Give  signal, 
"Write." 


Directions  for  Marking. 


Capitals. 

1.  I  have  a 

2.  At    that    moment 

3.  What 

4.  Mr. 

5.  Fox 


Punctuation. 

1.  Comma  after  "sly" 

2.  Q  u  o  t  at  ion     marks 

around      "I 
tricks  '. 

3.  Quotation     marks 

around  "which  .... 
enemies". 

4.  Apostrophe    in    "I've". 

5.  Comma    after    "one". 

6.  Apostrophe  in  "cat's.". 

7.  Period   after   "leaves". 

8.  Comma   after    "cried". 

9.  Period  after  "Mr.". 
10  Interrogation    point. 

TABLE  V — A  comparison  of  standings  in  percentages  in  dictation  oj  jables  near  the  end 
of  the  first  semester  ( December)  for  the  years  1912,  1913,  1914. 


Spelling. 

1.  boasting. 

2.  whole. 

3.  which. 

4.  hundred. 

5.  moment. 

6.  coming. 

7.  simple. 

8.  cried. 

9.  search. 
10.  caught. 


Capitals 

Punctuation 

Spelling- 

Average 

Grade 

1912 

1913 

1914 

1912 

1913 

1914 

1912 

1913 

1914 

1912 

1913 

1914 

43     

70 

80 

88 

31 

63 

73 

52 

53 

59 

51 

66 

73 

4A  

77 

83 

89 

21 

73 

82 

43 

64 

71 

47 

73 

81 

5B     

75 

85 

90 

55 

75 

82 

53 

74 

78 

61 

78 

83 

5A  

70 

88 

93 

56 

79 

89 

54 

.79 

88 

60 

82 

90 

6B 

81 

85 

93 

69 

79 

90 

59 

85 

89 

70 

83 

91 

6A  

71 

87 

94 

60 

82 

90 

57 

85 

92 

63 

85 

92 

7B  

81 

85 

92 

76 

81 

92 

74 

93 

93 

77 

87 

92 

7  A.      

85 

92 

% 

77 

86 

92 

77 

94 

% 

79 

91 

95 

8B     

86 

92 

% 

80 

84 

94 

80 

% 

% 

82 

91 

95 

BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  43 

Table  V  shows  the  continuous  gains  made  by  any  grade 
from  year  to  year  as  the  work  continued.  For  any  grade 
above  4B,  the  gains  are  of  a  cumulative  nature  as  the 
work  is  done  by  the  pupil  for  an  increasing  length  of  time. 
But  formal  writing  in  English  is  first  stressed  in  the  4B 
term  and  a  comparison  of  grades  made  by  succeeding  4B 
classes  shows  the  constructive  value  of  the  work.  The  4B 
class  for  the  first  term  of  1912  attained  a  percentage  of 
70  in  capitalization,  the  4B  class  for  1913  a  percentage  of 
80,  and  the  4B  class  for  1914  a  percentage  of  88.  The 
same  classes,  in  punctuation,  ranked  31,  63  and  73  per 
cent,  respectively,  and  their  averages  were  51,  66,  and  73 
per  cent.  The  same  test  having  been  given  in  1913  and 
1914,  the  gains  for  any  grade  for  that  year  are  a  very  ac- 
curate measure  of  progress  over  the  previous  year.  The 
4B  class  of  1914  gained,  over  the  class  of  1913,  8  per  cent 
in  capitalization,  10  per  cent  in  punctuation,  and  7  per 
cent  in  their  average  standing.  Similar  gains  are  made 
by  the  other  classes  with  the  least  gains  in  grades  seven 
and  eight  as  shown  in  Table  IV  for  the  first  year's  work ; 
thus  the  6B  classes  show  a  record  of  81,  85,  and  93  per 
cent  in  capitalization,  of  69,  79,  and  90  per  cent  in  punc- 
tuation, and  of  70,  83,  and  91  per  cent  in  their  average 
standing,  while  the  8B  classes  for  the  same  years  have  86, 
92,  and  96  per  cent  in  punctuation,  and  they  averaged  92, 
91,  and  95  per  cent.  The  total  gain  of  all  the  classes  in 
capitalization  was  54  per  cent,  in  punctuation  82  per  cent, 
in  spelling  39  per  cent. 

Each  Class  Traced  Through  Three  Years. 

The  4B  of  1912  as  5B  of  1913  showed  a  gain  of  15  per 
cent  in  capitalization,  44  in  punctuation,  22  in  spelling, 
and  27  in  average;  as  6B  in  1914,  their  gain  over  the  pre- 
vious year  was  8  per  cent  in  capitalization,  15  in  punctua- 
tion and  15  in  spelling — an  average  of  13  per  cent. 

The  4A  of  1912  as  5A  of  1913  showed  a  gain  of  11  per 
cent  in  capitalization,  58  in  punctuation,  36  in  spelling, 
and  35  in  average;  as  6 A  in  1914  they  showed  a  gain  o\er 
the  previous  year  of  6  per  cent  in  capitalization,  11  in 
punctuation,  13  in  spelling  and  10  in  average. 

The  5B  of  1912  as  6B  in  1913  showed  a  gain  of  10  per 


44  SPECIAL  REPORT 

cent  in  capitalization,  24  in  punctuation,  32  in  spelling, 
and  21  in  average;  as  7B  in  1914  their  gain  over  the  pre- 
vious year  was  7  per  cent  in  capitalization,  13  in  punctua- 
tion, 8  in  spelling,  and  9  in  average. 

The  5A  of  1912  as  6A  in  1913  showed  a  gain  of  17  per 
cent  in  capitalization,  26  in  punctuation,  31  in  spelling, 
and  25  in  average ;  as  7A  in  1914  they  showed  a  gain  over 
the  previous  year  of  9  per  cent  in  capitalization,  10  in 
punctuation,  11  in  spelling  and  10  in  average. 

The  6B  of  1912  as  7B  in  1913  showed  a  gain  of  4  per 
cent  in  capitalization,  12  in  punctuation,  34  in  spelling 
and  17  in  average;  as  8B  in  1914  their  gain  over  the  pre- 
vious year  was  11  per  cent  in  capitalization,  13  in  punc- 
tuation, 3  in  spelling,  and  9  in  average. 

Characteristics  and  Grading  of  the  Dictation  Test. 

To  afford  a  standard  each  test  must  present,  as  nearly 
as  possible,  material  of  the  same  character  and  must  be 
marked  on  the  same  points.  It  should  deal  with  a  situa- 
tion, the  meaning  of  which  is  clearly  apparent,  and  should 
present  ideas  with  which  pupils  are  reasonably  familiar. 

A  consideration  of  the  points  marked  under  capitals 
will  disclose  a  change  to  include  the  common  uses.  It 
was  found  that  there  is  no  occasion  for  marking  capital 
"I"  as  mistakes  in  its  use  are  negligible.  Of  the  five 
points  under  capitals,  two  are  for  capitals  at  the  begin- 
ning of  sentences,  one  for  beginning  a  direct  quotation,  one 
for  a  title,  "Mr."  or  "Mrs.,"  and  one  for  a  name,  as  "Lion," 
"Fox." 

In  marking  on  punctuation,  the  exclamation  point  has 
been  dropped  as  irrelevant  to  the  written  composition  of 
the  elementary  school.  The  interrogation  point,  a  mark 
of  greater  difficulty,  is  included  because  of  frequent  nec- 
essity for  its  use.  Of  the  ten  points  under  "Punctuation/" 
two  are  on  the  period :  at  the  end  of  a  sentence,  for  the  ab- 
breviation of  a  title  (Mr.  or  Mrs.)  ;  one  for  an  interroga- 
tion point;  two  for  the  apostrophe:  in  a  contraction,  for 
possessive;  three  for  the  comma:  to  set  off  a  noun  of  di- 
rect address,  after  the  first  part  of  a  broken  quotation,  in 
a  series;  two  for  quotation  marks:  the  first  part  of  a 
broken  quotation,  the  second  part  of  a  broken  quotation. 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


45 


The  words  of  the  selection  should  be  reasonably  easy  to 
spell.  The  ten  words  upon  which  the  test  is  marked 
should  be  of  approximately  the  same  difficulty  in  any  se- 
ries of  tests. 


TABLE  VI — Average  oj  the  standings  made  at  the  end  of  the  semester  during  the  years 
1911-1914  .—Seven  tests. 


Grade 

Capitals 

Punctua- 
tion 

Spelling- 

Average 

4B    
4A   

80 
83 

54 
61 

62 
68 

65 
70 

SB    
5A 

83 
87 

69 
73 

75 

78 

75 
80 

6B    
6A    

86 
86 

78 
79 

80 
82 

80 
82 

7B    

7A    

86 
89 

82 
84 

87 
90 

85 
88 

8B    

91 

86 

91 

91 

Table  VI  presents  the  averages  of  the  standings  made  at 
the  end  of  the  seven  successive  semesters  during  the  years 
1911  to  1914,  inclusive.  The  per  cents  in  the  "Average" 
column  show  a  regular  increase  of  5  per  cent  for  each  half 
year's  work  up  to  the  6B.  Above  the  6B  the  gain  is,  with 
one  exception,  3  per  cent.  The  percentages  in  spelling 
and  in  punctuation  show  substantially  the  same  results 
as  Tables  IV  and  V,  that  is,  the  greatest  gains  in  grades 
four  and  five,  and  less,  but  rather  regular,  gains  in  the 
seventh  and  eighth  grades.  The  averages  for  capitaliza- 
tion present  too  slight  a  range  to  be  satisfactory.  The 
lower  grades  ranked  much  higher  in  capitalization  than  in 
punctuation  at  the  beginning  of  this  series  of  tests  and 
they  have  raised  their  percentages  in  both  to  a  marked  de- 
gree, but  the  upper  grades  have  not  improved  in  capitali- 
zation to  the  same  degree  that  they  have  in  punctuation 
so  that,  while  they  have  gained  somewhat,  their  averages 
are  not  as  high  as  one  would  anticipate. 

This  investigation  has  been  conducted  in  too  limited  a 
field  and  has  covered  too  short  a  period  of  time  to  justify 
any  definite  conclusion  as  to  the  percentages  which  the 
grades  should  attain  in  the  mechanics  of  English,  but  the 


4:6  SPECIAL  REPORT 

results  so  far  obtained  justify  the  work  already  done  and 
its  continuation.  The  justification  for  the  work  is  evi- 
denced not  alone  in  the  improvement  in  this  one  line  of 
work  but  also  in  a  greater  accuracy  in  the  other  Avritten 
work  of  the  pupils  and  in  the  increased  ability  of  the  pu- 
pils to  correct  their  own  errors  though  there  has,  as  yet, 
been  no  attempt  to  measure  the  degree  of  improvement  on 
these  two  points. 

As  a  result  of  these  investigations  in  English  usage 
and  in  the  mechanics  of  English,  we  have  narrowed  the 
field  and  thus  made  our  attack  more  direct.  The  issue 
has  been  more  clearly  defined  for  both  teachers  and  pu- 
pils and  the  gains,  though  not  measured  exactly  in  Eng- 
lish usage  and  not  altogether  satisfactory  in  either  line, 
are  clearly  marked  and  have  repaid  the  effort  expended. 


THE  COURTIS  STANDARD   TEST  IN  ARITHMETIC. 

The  Courtis  Standard  Test  in  Arithmetic*,  Series  A, 
was  given  in  Boise  first  in  October,  1911.  Table  I  shows 
that  at  that  time  the  standings  of  the  grades  in  the  Boise 
schools  in  the  first  five  tests  was  at  the  standard  or  a  few 
points  below  it.  But  in  the  remaining  three  tests,  No.  6, 
Speed  Reasoning;  No.  7,  Fundamentals;  No.  8,  Reasoning, 
while  the  number  of  problems  attempted  was  at  the  stand- 
ard, or  a  few  points  below,  with  two  exceptions,  the  stand- 
ing of  all  the  grades  was  at  the  standard  or  a  few  points 
above  it,  showing  a  higher  percentage  of  accuracy  than  the 
standard. 


*  The  Courtis  Standard  Tests,  copyrighted  by  S.  A.  Courtis  and 
issued  by  the  Department  of  Cooperative  Research,  82  Eliot  Street, 
Detroit,  Michigan. 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


47 


TABLE  I. 


No.l 

No.2 

No.3 

No.  4 

No.5 

No.  6 

No.  7 

No.  8 

, 

Reason- 

Funda- 

Reason- 

o 

o 

ri 

3S 

o 

^  ce 

C  e» 

ing 

mentals 

ing 

i 

< 

«l 

CO 

3  rt 
Su 

'E 
o 

t*>3 

1* 

Ats. 

Rts 

Ats. 

Rts 

Ats. 

Rts 

•->6 

19 

16 

16 

63 

Boise     Oct      1911 

04 

16 

13 

13 

56 

Sent     1914 

23 

14 

53 

Jan      1915 

33 

^4 

21 

JJ 

79 

Standard—  ith  Grade 

34 

25 

23 

23 

75 

3.5 

1.8 

7.0 

3.5 

2.9 

.7 

Boise     Oct     1911 

36 

25 

23 

20 

74 

4  2 

2  6 

7  0 

1  7 

Sept     1914  

34 

23 

2u 

19 

74 

2.9 

1 

5.3 

2.1 

Jan      1915 

43 

34 

34 

32 

9^ 

4  2 

2 

7  9 

S  1 

Standard-  5th  Grade 

42 

31 

30 

30 

84 

4.2 

2. 

9.0 

5.2 

3.1 

1.0 

Boise,   Oct.,    1911  

40 

31 

29 

27 

81 

3.8 

2. 

8.6 

5.3 

2  6 

1.1 

Sept,  1914  

42 

30 

31 

27 

88 

3.8 

1. 

7.8 

5.3 

2.5 

.7 

Jan.,    1915  

46 

38 

37 

37 

97 

4.2 

3. 

8.9 

6.5 

3.5 

12 

Standard-6th  Grade 

50 

38 

37 

37 

92 

4.9 

3. 

n.o 

6.7 

3.4 

1.4 

Boise,   Oct.,    1911  

49 

37 

34 

36 

92 

4.6 

4. 

10.5 

6.6 

3.0 

1.6 

Sept.,  1914  

46 

35 

35 

35 

98 

4.1 

2. 

9.3 

6.6 

2.5 

1.2 

Jan.,    1915  

53 

44 

42 

44 

106 

5.3 

4 

10.3 

8  8 

3.7 

2.3 

Standard—  7th  Grade 

58 

44 

41 

44 

100 

5.6 

4.5 

12.5 

8.2 

3.7 

1.9 

Boise,   Oct.,    1911  

56 

43 

42 

42 

104 

5.4 

4.8 

12.6 

8.2 

3.8 

2.4 

Sept     1914 

56 

44 

43 

44 

109 

4.8 

1  c 

11.0 

7,7 

3.1 

1.9 

Jan.,    1915  

63 

50 

51 

51 

117 

6.3 

,S  8 

12.0 

8.8 

4.3 

3.3 

Standard—  8th  Grade 

63 

49 

45 

49 

108 

6.4 

5.7 

14.0 

9.4 

4.0 

2.5 

Boise,   Oct..    1911... 

61 

46 

44 

45 

107 

6.5 

5.8 

14.3 

9.6 

4.3 

3.0 

(8B)    Sept     1914  

63 

45 

47 

49 

116 

5.8 

S  ? 

12.4 

9  ( 

3.7 

2.3 

(8B)    Jan.,   1915  

65 

50 

52 

53 

122 

7.4 

7.0 

13.4 

10.2 

5.2 

4.1 

After  the  first  trial,  drills  were  given  in  the  first  five 
tests  with  the  aim  of  increasing  the  speed.  All  grades  re- 
sponded readily  with  a  gain  of  one  or  more  years  over 
their  standard.  In  this  period  we  verified  Mr.  Courtis7 
statement  that  there  is  no  correlation  between  Tests  1,  2, 
3,  4,  and  Tests  6,  7,  8.  Accordingly,  we  have  discontinued 
drill  in  the  first  four  tests,  except  in  grades  three,  four, 
and  five.  In  grades  six,  seven,  and  eight,  we  have  worked 
definitely  for  speed  and  accuracy  in  reasoning  and  funda- 
mental operations. 

Table  I  shows,  also,  the  gain  in  one  semester.  The 
tests  were  given  at  the  beginning  of  the  semester,  Septem- 
ber, 1914,  and  at  the  close,  January,  1915.  In  the  third 
grade,  (pupils  Avho  had  had  only  one  year's  work  in  pri- 
mary combinations  in  addition  and  separations  in  sub- 
tractions) the  standings  were  3  below  the  standard  in  ad- 


48  SPECIAL  REPORT 

dition  and  5  in  subtraction.  In  January,  they  ranked  7 
above  the  standard  in  addition,  and  5,  each,  in  subtraction, 
multiplication  and  division.  The  fourth  grade  in  Septem- 
ber was  at  the  standard  in  addition,  2  below  in  subtraction, 

3  below  in  multiplication,    and    4    below  in  divsion.     In 
January,  it  was  above  the  fifth  grade  standard  in  all  the 
first  four  tests.     In  September,  the  fifth  grade  was  at  the 
standard  in  addition,  1  below  in  subtraction,  1  above  in 
multiplication  and  3  below  in  division.     In  January,  it 
was  4  above  in  addition  and  sixth  grade  standard  in  sub- 
traction, multiplication     and     division.     In     September, 
the  sixth  grade  standing  was  4  below  the  standard  in  ad- 
dition, 3  in  subtraction,  2  in  multiplication  and  2  in  div- 
ision.    In  January,  it  was  3  above  the  standard  in  addi- 
tion, and  at  or  above  seventh  grade  standards  in  subtrac- 
tion, multiplication  and  division.     In  September,  the  sev- 
enth grade  was  2  below  the  standard  in  addition  and  at 
or  above  the  standard  in  subtraction,  multiplication,  and 
division.     In  January,  it  ranked  at  eighth  grade  standard 
in  addition,  1  above  eighth  in  subtraction,  6  above  in  mul- 
tiplication and  2  above  in  division.     In   September,  the 
eighth  grade  was  at  the  standard  in  addition  and  division, 

4  below  in  subtraction  and  2  above  in  multiplication.     In 
January  it  ranked  from  1  to  7  above  the  standard. 

On  Test  No.  6,  Speed  Reasoning:  In  September,  the 
fourth  grade  was  .6  of  a  problem  below  the  standard,  in 
January,  .7  above;  in  September,  the  fifth  grade  was  .7 
below;  in  January,  .6  above;  in  September,  the  sixth 
grade  was  .6  below,  in  January,  1.2  above;  in  September, 
the  seventh  grade  was  .6  below,  in  January  1.3  above;  in 
September,  the  eighth  grade  was  .5  below,  in  January  1.3 
above.  At  the  beginning  of  the  semester  they  were  from 
.5  to  .7  below  the  standard  and  at  the  end  of  the  semester 
they  showed  gains  of  from  .6  to  1.3  problems. 

On  Test  No.  7,  Fundamentals :  In  September  the  fourth 
grade  was  .8  of  a  problem  below  the  standard,  in  January 
1.6  above;  in  September  the  fifth  grade  was  .1  above  the 
standard,  in  January  1.3  above;  in  September  the  sixth 
grade  was  .1  below  the  standard,  in  January  2.1  above;  in 
September  the  seventh  grade  was  .5  below  the  standard, 
in  January  .6  above;  in  September  the  eighth  grade  was  .4 
below  the  standard,  in  January  .8  above.  In  September 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


the  standings  range  from  .1  to  .8  points  below  the  standard 
and  in  January  from  .2  to  1.6  above  the  standard. 

On  Test  No.  8,  Reasoning :  In  September  the  fifth 
grade  was  .3  below  the  standard,  in  January  .2  above  it; 
in  September  the  sixth  grade  was  .2  below  the  standard,  in 
January  .4  above  seventh  grade  standard;  in  September 
the  seventh  grade  was  at  the  standard,  in  January  .8 
above  eighth  grade  standard ;  in  September  the  eighth 
grade  was  .2  below  the  standard,  in  January  1.6  above.  In 
September  the  standings  range  from  .3  below  to  the  stand- 
ard, and  in  January  from  .2  to  1.6  above  the  standard. 

In  comparing  the  standings  at  the  beginning  and  the 
end  of  a  semester,  we  see  that  the  time  at  which  a  test  is 
given  makes  a  very  great  difference  in  ranking  of  any 
grade.  At  the  beginning  of  the  semester  the  standing 
ranges  from  a  few  points  below  to  the  standard  in  any 
grade.  At  the  close  of  the  semester  the  standing  is  in  ad- 
vance of  the  standard  for  the  grade,  usually  one  year.  For 
instance,  the  8-B  does  only  half  the  work  of  the  eighth 
year;  the  standard  for  eighth  grade  is  made  up  from  the 
whole  year,  yet  the  Boise  8-B  ranks  above  the  eighth  grade 
standard. 

In  Mr.  Courtis'  discussion  setting  forth  the  purpose  and 
advantages  of  the  use  of  the  standard  tests  in  arithmetic 
there  is  no  mention  of  the  time  in  the  term  at  which  the 
test  should  be  given.  For  comparative  ranking  of  differ- 
ent school  systems,  therefore,  specific  instructions  should 
oe  given  as  to  the  time  in  the  semester  at  which  the  test* 
are  given. 


TABLE  II 


-Percentage  oj  pupils  attaining  the  standards  oj  various  grades  in 
Tests  No.  6  and  No.  7. 


Grade 

Below  3 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Above  8 

Test  No.  6 
4th  Grade  

14  0 

17 

9 

32 

16 

7 

2 

Sth  Grade  

4.0 

13 

6 

97 

^ 

13 

g 

6th  Grade  

4 

1 

1 

16 

18 

19 

20 

7th  Grade 

1 

4 

10 

22 

19 

8B   Grade  

Test  No  7 
4th  Grade 

1  0 

21 

.5 
32 

1 
16 

1 
19 

8 
g 

12 

•3 

76 

Sth  Grade  

1  0 

7 

18 

14 

28 

19 

9 

6th  Grade 

3 

2 

g 

7 

28 

16 

18 

7th  Grade 

1 

5 

6 

29 

14 

8B   Grade        

6 

2 

14 

13 

13 

50  SPECIAL  REPORT 

Table  II  shows  the  percentage  of  pupils  in  each  grade 
who  attain  the  standards  of  various  grades  in  Tests  No. 
6  and  No.  7. 

Test  No.  6,  Speed  Seasoning :  Of  the  fourth  grade  pu- 
pils, 14  per  cent  rank  below  the  third  grade  standard,  IT 
per  cent  at  third  grade,  9  per  cent  at  fourth  grade,  32  per 
cent  at  fifth  grade,  16  per  cent  at  sixth  grade,  7  per  cent 
at  seventh  grade,  2  per  cent  at  eighth  grade,  and  2  per 
cent  above  eighth  grade;  of  the  fifth  grade  pupils,  4  per- 
cent rank  below  third  grade  standing,  13  per  cent  at  third 
grade  standing,  6  per  cent  at  fourth  grade  standing,  27 
per  cent  at  fifth  grade  standing,  25  per  cent  at  sixth 
grade  standing,  13  per  cent  at  seventh  grade  standing,  8 
per  cent  at  eighth  grade  standing,  and  4  per  cent  above 
eighth  grade;  of  the  sixth  grade  pupils,  .4  per  cent  were 
below  third  grade  standing,  2  per  cent  at  third  grade,  1 
per  cent  at  fourth  grade,  16  per  cent  at  fifth  grade,  18  per 
cent  at  sixth  grade,  19  per  cent  at  seventh  grade,  20  per 
cent  at  eighth  grade,  and  23  per  cent  above  eighth  grade; 
of  the  seventh  grade  pupils,  1  per  cent  ranks  at  fourth 
grade  standard, "4  per  cent  at  fifth  grade,  10  per  cent  at 
sixth,  22  per  cent  at  seventh  grade,  19  per  cent  at  eighth 
grade,  and  43  per  cent  above  eighth  grade;  of  the  eighth 
grade  pupils,  .5  per  cent  rank  at  fourth  grade  standard,  1 
per  cent  at  fifth  grade,  1  per  cent  at  sixth  grade,  8  per 
cent  at  seventh  grade^  12  per  cent  at  eighth  and  76  per 
cent  above  eighth  grade  standard. 

Test  No.  7,  Fundamentals :  Of  the  fourth  grade  pupils, 
1  per  cent  ranks  below  third  grade,  21  per  cent  in  third 
grade,  32  per  cent  in  fourth  grade,  16  per  cent  in  fifth 
grade,  19  per  cent  in  sixth  grade,  8  per  cent  in  seventh 
grade,  2  per  cent  in  eighth  grade  and  1  per  cent  above 
eighth  grade;  of  the  fifth  grade  pupils,  1  per  cent  ranks 
below  third  grade,  7  per  cent  in  third  grade,  18  per  cent  in 
fourth  grade,  14  per  cent  in  fifth  grade,  28  per  cent  in 
sixth  grade,  19  per  cent  in  seventh  grade,  9  per  cent  in 
eighth  grade  and  4  per  cent  above  eighth  grade;  of  the 
sixth  grade  pupils,  .3  per  cent  rank  below  the  standard  for 
third  grade,  2  per  cent  at  third  grade,  8  per  cent  at  fourth 
grade,  7  per  cent  at  fifth  grade,  28  per  cent  at  sixth  grade, 
16  per  cent  at  seventh  grade,  18  per  cent  at  eighth  grade 
and  20  per  cent  above  eighth  grade;  of  the  seventh  grade 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


51 


pupils,  1  per  cent  ranks  at  the  third  grade  standard,  6  per 
cent  at  fourth  grade,  6  per  cent  at  fifth  grade,  29  per  cent 
at  sixth  grade,  14  per  cent  at  seventh  grade,  12  per  cent  at 
eighth  grade,  and  32  per  cent  above  eighth  grade;  of  the 
eighth  grade  pupils,  6  per  cent  rank  at  the  fourth  grade 
standard,  2  per  cent  at  fifth  grade,  14  per  cent  at  sixth 
grade,  13  per  cent  at  seventh  grade,  13  per  cent  at  eighth 
grade  and  51  per  cent  above  eighth  grade  standard. 

TABI,E  III — Distribution  oj  pupils  in  percentages  with  reference  to  the  standard  for 
their  grade  in  tests  No.  6  and  No.  7. 


Test  No.  6 

Test  No.  7 

Below 

Standard 

Above 

Below 

Standard 

Above 

4th  Grade  

31 

41 

27 

21 

14 

65 

5th  Grade  
6th  Grade  
7th  Grade  

23 
19 
16 

26 
18 

22 

50 
62 
62 

25 
18 
41 

15 
10 
14 

60 

72 
45 

8B  Grade  

11 

12 

76 

35 

13 

51 

Test  No.  6,  Speed  Reasoning:  Of  the  fourth  grade  pu- 
pils, 31  per  cent  were  below  the  standard,  41  per  cent  at 
the  standard  and  27  per  cent  above  the  standard  for  their 
grade ;  of  the  fifth  grade  pupils,  23  per  cent  were  below  the 
standard,  26  per  cent  at  the  standard  and  50  per  cent 
above  the  standard;  of  the  sixth  grade  pupils,  19  per  cent 
were  below  the  standard,  18  per  cent  at  the  standard  and 
62  per  cent  above  the  standard;  of  the  seventh  grade  pu- 
pils, 16  per  cent  were  below  the  standard,  22  per  cent  at 
the  standard  and  62  per  cent  above  the  standard;  of  the 
8B  pupils,  11  per  cent  were  below  the  standard,  12  per 
cent  at  the  standard  and  76  per  cent  above  the  standard. 

Test  No.  7,  Fundamentals :  Of  the  fourth  grade  pupils, 
21  per  cent  were  below  the  standard;  14  per  cent  at  the 
standard,  and  65  per  cent  above  the  standard  for  their 
grade;  of  the  fifth  grade  pupils,  25  per  cent  were  below 
the  standard,  15  per  cent  at  the  standard,  and  60  per  cent 
above  the  standard ;  of  the  sixth  grade  pupils,  18  per  cent 
were  below  the  standard,  10  per  cent  at  the  standard  and 
72  per  cent  above  their  standard ;  of  the  seventh  grade  pu- 
pils, 41  per  cent  were  below  the  standard,  14  per  cent  at 
the  standard,  and  45  per  cent  above  their  standard ;  of  the 
eighth  grade  pupils,  35  per  cent  were  below  the  standard, 


52 


SPECIAL  KBrORT 


13  per  cent  at  the  standard  and  51  per  cent  above  their 
standard. 

The  variation  of  abilities  below  the  standard  may  be 
accounted  for  partly  by  the  fact  that  our  shifting  popula- 
tion throws  retarded  pupils  into  all  the  grades,  and  partly 
by  the  fact  that  our  system  of  promotions  moves  on  to 
the  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth  grades  pupils  whom  the 
traditional  plan  would  leave  in  the  fourth,  fifth  and  sixth 
grades. 

In  Test  No.  6,  Speed  Reasoning,  the  examples  are  very 
simple.  The  score  depends  on  the  ability  of  the  pupil  to 
read.  Our  fourth  grade  pupils  have  had  practically  no 
drill  in  reasoning  problems,  yet  their  ability  to  read  en- 
ables them  to  rank  above  the  standard.  In  the  succeed- 
ing grades,  also,  we  attribute  the  high  standing  in  this 
test,  in  a  large  measure,  to  ability  to  read. 

In  Test  No.  7,  Fundamentals,  the  problems  are  abstract 
and  of  the  character  upon  which  pupils  are  systematically 
drilled  from  the  fourth  grade.  We  attribute  the  advanced 
standing  of  the  different  grades  in  this  test  to  constant 
drills  for  accuracy  and  speed,  which  are  used  in  all  grades 
above  the  second. 

Table  III  indicates  a  large  percentage  of  variation,  but 
we  do  not  consider  this  unsatisfactory  because  it  depends 
on  the  elements  in  the  situation  already  explained.  A 
slight  variation  would  indicate  rigid  promotion  standards 
and  the  sacrifice  of  the  individual  to  traditional  stand- 
ards of  grading. 


Benefits  From  Using  the  Courtils  Standard  Test  in  Arith- 
metic. 

1.  There  has  been  a  gain  of  one  year  or  more  in  speed 
and  accuracy. 

2.  There  is  a  gain  in  attention  and  in  power  of  concen- 
tration. 

3.  Pupils  are  forming  habits  of  comparing  their  work 
with  standards. 

4.  The  Courtis  Tests,  particularly  the  first  five,  fur- 
nish an  excellent  device  for  awakening  the  interests  of  the 
retarded  and  backward  pupils,  and  stimulating  the  in- 
different. 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  63 

5.  The  Courtis  Tests  have  been  very  useful  in  confer- 
ences with  parents  in  justifying  the  teacher's  estimate  of 
the  pupil's  work. 

6.  Teachers  have  been  stimulated  and  encouraged  by 
having  a  standard  outside  their  own  room  and  their  own 
system  for  comparison. 

THE  INTERMEDIATE  SCHOOL. 

The  American  elementary  school,  consisting  of  eight 
grades,  retains  the  average  pupil  from  the  age  of  six  to  the 
age  of  fourteen.  The  high  school,  succeeding  as  it  does 
the  elementary  school,  requires  the  completion  of  an  eight 
years'  elementary  course,  and  therefore  admits  the  pupil 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  or  fifteen.  The  boy  or  girl  who  is 
to  complete  the  high  school  course  and  enter  college  must 
postpone  the  beginning  of  foreign  languages,  algebra, 
geometry,  etc.,  until  the  age  of  fourteen  or  fifteen.  Under 
the  present  system  the  years  from  twelve  to  fourteen 
(which  should  be  devoted  to  the  beginning  of  the  high 
school  studies  generally  designated  as  college  preparatory 
courses),  are  largely  wasted  for  the  pupil  who  is  to  pur- 
sue such  a  course.  For  those  large  groups  who  are  now  in 
the  elementary  school  and  who  may  not  hope  to  go  to  col- 
lege, the  present  rigid  requirements  are  equally  fruitless. 
These  years  from  twelve  to  fourteen  should  be  devoted,  in 
their  case,  largely  to  acquiring  prevocational  experience. 

Because  of  dissatisfaction  with  this  situation,  there  has 
come  to  be  a  widespread  demand  that  the  twelve  years1 
public  school  course  should  be  organized  on  the  six  and 
six  plan,  devoting  six  years  to  the  elementary  school  and 
six  years  to  the  high  school.  The  various  sections  of  the 
National  Educational  Association  have  had,  during  the 
past  five  years,  committees  collecting  and  interpreting 
data,  and  formulating  plans  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
public  schools.  These  committees  have  substantially 
agreed  that  the  six  and  six  plan  should  be  adopted. 

Administrative  difficulties  have  been  so  great,  however, 
that  in  only  rare  instances  has  this  plan  really  been  work- 
ed out  in  any  school  system.  The  chief  difficulty  has 
been  the  unwillingness  of  the  people  to  permit  a  differen- 
tiation of  pupils  or  courses  before  the  full  eight  years  have 


54  SPECIAL  REPORT 

been  completed.  In  many  schools,  however,  the  high 
school  plan  of  organization  and  high  school  methods  of 
instruction  have  been  extended  down  into  the  eighth  and 
seventh  years  in  the  departmental  plan.  College  trained 
teachers  have,  also,  been  placed  in  those  grades. 

In  some  cities,  pupils  of  the  upper  grammar  grades  are 
now  collected  in  intermediate  schools  where  favorable  op- 
portunities may  be  given  for  manual  training,  domestic 
science,  commercial  studies,  foreign  languages,  algebra, 
geometry,  ancient  history,  etc.  While  but  a  few  schools 
have  reached  the  point  of  differentiation  of  courses,  many 
more  are  willing  to  do  so  as  soon  as  public  opinion  will 
permit.  The  National  Superintendents'  Association  «t 
Cincinnati  in  February,  1915,  practically  unanimously 
recommended  a  type  of  development  in  educational  admin- 
istration which  will  probably  realize  the  purposes  of  the 
so-called  "six  and  six  plan." 

One  of  the  recommendations  of  the  expert  survey  of  the 
Boise  public  schools,  which  was  made  in  1913  by  Dr.  Ed- 
ward C.  Elliott  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  Dr. 
Charles  H.  JudjI  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  Dr. 
George  D.  Strayer  of  Columbia  University,  was  as  follows  : 

"The  Boise  public  schools  are  organized  with  respect  to 
subjects  of  instruction  with  such  a  clear  recognition  of  the 
demand  of  economy  that  it  is  a  very  short  step  to  a  read- 
justment of  the  relation  of  elementary  schools  and  high 
school,  such  that  a  year  or  more  of  time  is  saved  for  eiieh 
child.  The  present  eighth  grade  has,  through  the  reor- 
ganization of  the  work,  become  a  mixture  of  high  school 
courses  and  elementary  courses.  The  pupils  will  gain  in 
enthusiasm  for  their  work  and  breadth  of  opportunities,  if 
the  eighth  grade  is  abandoned  and  the  minor  adjustment* 
needed  are  worked  out  in  the  high  school  course.  These1 
minor  adjustments  have  been  canvassed  in  detail  and  can 
be  made  without  any  sacrifice  whatsoever  of  the  interest:? 
of  the  pupils." 

For  the  past  four  years  the  teachers  and  supervisors  of 
the  elementary  schools  have  been  working  on  the  problem 
of  economizing  the  time  of  the  pupils.  The  determined 
principle  of  the  work  has  been  to  incorporate  in  the  course 
of  study  only  that  material  which  may  function  in  the 
lives  of  the  children.  The  guiding  principles  have  been : 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  55 

(1)  Whatever  is  included  in  any  subject  for  any  age  must 
be  reasonably  comprehensible  by  children    of    that    age. 

(2)  Whatever  is  included  must  minister    to    the    social 
needs   common   to   ordinary   American   children.     Corre- 
sponding  principles   of   elimination   may   be   formulated 
thus:     (1)  Subject  matter  too  difficult  for  the  majority  of 
normal  children  without  undue  expenditure  of  time  and 
energy  must  be  excluded.     (2)  Subject-matter  that  is  not 
essential  for  at  least  the  majority  of  children  must  be  ex- 
cluded.    These  principles  have  permitted  the  elimination 
of  some  things  that  had  previously  been  taught  under  the 
mistaken  idea  that  they  develop  a  general  ability  in  mem- 
ory and  reason.     There  have  been  eliminated  from  arith- 
metic, finding  the  greatest  common  divisor  and  least  com- 
mon multiple,  complicated  reductions  of  denominate  num- 
bers, longitude  and  time,  except  the  15  degree  unit,  annual 
interest,  true  discount,  partnership,  compound  proportion, 
cube  root,  the  metric  system,  the  surveyor's  measure  and 
such  other  topics  as  have  been  made  obsolete  by  modern 
business  methods.     The  Courtis  Standard  Tests  have  been 
used  to  determine  efficiency     in     fundamental  combina- 
tions of  and  operations  with  numbers.     The  results  shou 
that  the  eliminations  enumerated  above  have  not  impaired 
the  effectiveness  of  our  work.     The  averages  show  that 
the  grades  rank  higher  than  the  standards  and  that  we 
are  constantly  improving  our  previous  records. 

In  spelling,  a  limited  number  of  words  is  selected  as  be- 
ing useful  for  the  written  vocabulary.  The  purpose  is  to 
secure  the  mastery  of  these  limited  lists  for  both  oral  and 
written  vocabularies.  Tests  given  each  semester  show  a 
steady  improvement  in  the  proportion  of  words  mastered. 

In  English,  technical  grammar  is  limited  to  a  year  in 
the  seventh-A  and  eighth  grades.  Much  attention  is 
given  to  spoken  English  in  the  effort  to  fix  the  habit  of 
correct  speech.  Each  teacher  has  a  list  of  errors  com- 
monly made  by  her  pupils  and  each  pupil  has  a  list  of 
his  own  common  errors,  so  that  both  work  to- 
gether to  eliminate  his  mistakes.  In  written  Eng- 
lish, a  dictation  test  given  early  in  the  semester  re- 
veals to  the  teacher  and,  each  pupil  the  exact  status  re- 
garding the  common  rules  of  capitalization  and  punctua- 
tion. All  work  together  to  eliminate  mistakes.  A  similar 


56  SPECIAL  REPORT 

test  at  the  end  of  the  semester  shows  accurately  the  rate 
of  gain.  The  realization  of  the  exact  situation  by  both 
teacher  and  pupil  has  enabled  us  to  make  marked  gains 
by  the  least  possible  expenditure  of  time  and  energy. 

The  time  devoted  to  geography  has  been  cut  to  two  and 
one-half  years.  The  fifth  year  is  devoted  to  the  study  of 
North  America  and  the  United  States.  Most  of  the  time 
of  the  sixth  year  is  given  to  Europe  and  South 
America,  though  such  phases  of  the  geography  as 
Asia,  Africa,  and  Australia  as  are  of  historical  or 
commercial  importance  are  taught.  In  the  seventh-B 
grade,  commercial  geography,  embodying  a  thorough 
review  of  the  world's  commercial  relations  with 
the  United  States  complete  the  course.  Thus  a  year  of 
time  has  been  saved  without  lessening  the  fund  of  geo- 
graphical information  that  shall  be  of  any  life  interest 
to  the  pupil. 

After  the  American  history  and  hero  stories  of  the 
fourth  year,  the  fifth  year  is  devoted  to  the  study  of  Greek 
and  Roman  history.  The  sixth  year  is  given  to  the  his- 
tory of  England  and  Western  Europe,  stressing  particu- 
larly the  Middle"  Age  period  as  the  foundation  of  the  his- 
tory for  the  seventh  grade. 

By  eliminating  outworn  and  useless  material  from  eacli 
subject,  we  are  able  to  cover  the  required  ground  in  each 
of  the  traditional  subjects  without  lessening  the  efficiency 
in  any  subject  and  we  have  thus  been  able  to  devote  most 
of  the  eighth  grade  to  strictly  high  school  subjects.  The 
eighth  grade  will,  in  the  future,  be  given  to  instruction, 
two  terms  each,  in  English  and  general  science,  and  one 
term  each  in  American  and  ancient  history,  in  arithmetic 
and  algebra. 

All  agree  that  this  ideal  organization  of  work  will  per- 
mit the  beginning  in  this  grade  of  the  segregation  of  pu- 
pils into  the  college  preparatory  group  and  the  group 
which  is  preparing  for  industrial  life,  and  which  can  hope 
for  no  school  training  beyond  that  which  this  community 
affords.  To  realize  this  ideal  an  ancient  and  modern  lan- 
guage course  should  be  offered  to  the  college  preparatory 
group  and  intensive  prevocational  work  for  those  who 
may  not  hope  to  go  to  college. 

To  make  such  a  scheme  of  organization  practicable,  all 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


57 


the  eighth  grade  pupils  should  be  sent  to  the  high  school 
or  grouped  in  one  building  so  that  a  choice  of  courses 
might  be  permitted  and  yet  each  class  be  large  enough  so 
that  the  expense  of  instruction  might  be  kept  within  rea- 
sonable limits.  At  the  present  time  such  groupings  are 
impracticable.  The  eighth  year  is  offered  in  five  build- 
ings and  under  the  departmental  plan  of  organization  is 
classed  with  the  seventh  year.  The  classes  in  each  build- 
ing are,  therefore,  too  small  to  permit  a  variety  of  courses 
and  the  expense  of  properly  equipping  the  five  buildings 
for  intensive  industrial  work  is  so  great  that,  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  the  District  could  not  assume  the  work.  But 
for  this  community  to  require  all  students  to  study  high 
school  English,  algebra,  ancient  history,  and  general 
science,  is  not  a  violation  of  the  generally  accepted  educa- 
tional practice.  Practically  all  the  pupils  go  on  into  the 
high  school  where  the  opportunity  for  election  is  almost 
unrestricted.  Such  studies  have,  therefore,  been  selected 
for  the  eighth  year  as  may  contribute  to  a  liberal  educa- 
tion and  be  useful  no  matter  what  vocational  trend 
later  experience  may  suggest. 

The  necessary  reorganization  of  the  elementary  school 
curriculum  to  eliminate  the  eighth  grade  as  an  elementary 
school  proposition  and  to  substitute  for  the  traditional 
subjects  studies  that  have  always  been  reserved  for  the 
high  school,  has  occasioned  some  question  in  the  commu- 
nity as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  policy.  People  are  more  con- 
servative in  their  attitude  towards  educational  innova- 
tions than  toward  new  adjustments  to  meet  the  demands 
of  changing  modern  life  in  any  other  field  of  activity. 
Each  adult  is  inclined  to  over-value  the  particular  type  of 
training  he  received  and  to  regard  with  suspicion  any 
change  which  will  tend  to  discredit  this  sort  of  training  re- 
ceived at  such  an  expenditure  of  time  and  money.  The 
schools  are,  therefore,  the  last  institution  to  respond  to 
the  changing  demands  of  modern  life.  In  Boise  the  read- 
justment of  the  curriculum  above  mentioned  was  not  con- 
summated without  some  question  by  earnest,  sincere,  and 
intelligent  patrons.  But  the  reasons  for  the  reorganiza- 
tion, the  educational  authority  to  sustain  it,  and  the  suc- 
cessful operation  of  the  scheme  in  other  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, have  been  explained  at  parents'  meetings  and  in  pri- 
vate conferences.  The  plan  is  now  in  operation,  provok- 


58  SPECIAL  REPORT 

ing  no  opposition  and  occasioning  no  alarm,  but,  on  the 
contrary  receiving  general  commendation. 

The  elimination  of  elementary  subjects  and  the  substi- 
tution of  high  school  subjects  in  the  eighth  year  imme- 
diately presented  the  following  administrative  problem : 
Shall  the  public  school  course  be  cut  from  twelve  to  eleven 
years,  and  the  division  be  seven  years  for  the  elementary 
school  and  four  for  the  high  school,  or  the  requirements 
for  graduation  from  the  high  school  be  so  extended  as  to 
demand  five  years  for  the  high  school  course?  In  har- 
mony with  the  practice  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  th<> 
Board  of  Education  is  adverse  to  cutting  the  course  to 
eleven  years  but  is  in  favor  of  extending  the  high  school 
curriculum  to  include  subjects  that  have  been  reserved  for 
the  junior  college  courses.  For  those  who  choose  indus 
trial  courses,  the  one  year  in  general  culture  work  permits 
a  more  intensive  pursual  of  strictly  industrial  courses  in 
the  four  remaining  years  of  the  high  school. 

The  school  authorities  of  Boise  have  met  another  diffi- 
culty in  this  reorganization  plan.  Each  year  a  number  of 
pupils  enters  the  high  school  from  the  rural  districts. 
These  pupils  have  had  eight  years  of  elementary  .school 
work  but  have  not  studied  any  high  school  subjects. 
Should  the  same  number  of  subjects  or  points  of  work  be 
required  of  them  as  are  required  of  our  own  pupils  who 
have  done  one  year  of  high  school  work  before  they  reach 
the  ninth  grade,  thirteen  years  would  then  be  necessary  for 
rural  pupils  to  complete  the  high  school  course.  Many 
pupils  move  into  the  district  from  other  city  schools  which 
are  operating  under  the  old  plan.  Should  thirteen  years 
be  required  of  them  for  graduation?  If  these  pupils  be 
permitted  to  graduate  from  the  high  school  with  four  years 
of  high  school  credits,  and  five  years'  credits  be  required 
of  pupils  who  have  procured  their  training  in  our  elemen- 
tary school,  the  discrimination  would  seemingly  be  in  fa- 
vor of  those  who  have  had  their  elementary  training  oat- 
side  of  the  Boise  schools.  But  it  is  only  a  seeming  dis- 
crimination in  favor  of  the  outsider.  If  in  eight  years  \VP 
can  give  our  own  pupils  the  essentials  of  grade  work  and 
also  one  year  of  high  school  work,  pupils  trained  in  the 
Boise  elementary  school  have  really  gained  a  year.  They 
have,  in  the  remaining  four  years,  a  greater  opportunity 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  59 

for  election  than  those  from  the  outside  who  come  with 
no  high  school  credits.  When  they  go  to  college  they  can 
offer  a  greater  number  of  high  school  credits  and  have  a 
greater  opportunity  to  gain  advanced  standing. 

The  reorganization  has  met  with  almost  universal  appro- 
val from  teachers  in  the  elementary  schools  and  in  the  high 
school.  Formerly  the  eighth  grade  curriculum  was  at- 
tacked in  a  spiritless  sort  of  way  because  it  was  such  a 
continuation  of  subjects  with  which  the  pupils  had  become 
surfeited.  The  introduction  of  new  material  awakens 
zeal  and  enthusiasm  hitherto  unattainable.  The  elimina- 
tion of  all  but  the  four  subjects  above  mentioned  and  the 
lengthening  of  the  recitation  period  to  forty  minutes  per- 
mit the  cultivation  of  a  power  of  concentration  impossible 
under  the  old  plan,  which  includes  more  subjects  and  has 
less  time  for  each  subject. 

Most  of  the  instructors  who  teach  high  school  subjects  in 
the  intermediate  school  are  college  graduates  who  have 
had  experience  as  high  school  teachers.  They  are,  there- 
fore, able  to  present  their  work  just  as  effectively  as  the 
teachers  in  the  high  school  proper. 

One  of  the  objections  urged  against  extending  the  high 
school  curriculum  down  into  the  eighth  year  is  that  the 
pupils  are  too  immature  to  assimilate  those  subjects  prop- 
erly. During  the  school  year  1913-14  the  first  year  of 
high  school  English  was  taught  in  the  last  year  of  the  ele- 
mentary school  and  in  the  first  year  of  the  high  school. 
The  same  text  was  used,  the  same  method  of  presentation 
pursued.  Those  classed  as  9-B  in  the  following  table  had 
done  the  first  year  of  English  in  the  elementary  school 
and  those  classed  as  10-B  had  done  the  same  work  in  the 
high  school.  In  the  fall  of  1914  both  9-B's  and  10-B's  took 
second  year  high  school  English.  They  were  not  segre- 
gated but  were  registered  for  English  without  regard  to 
whether  their  work  for  the  previous  year  had  been  done  in 
the  intermediate  or  the  high  school.  At  the  end  of  the 
first  semester  a  study  of  the  grade  report  of  each  stu- 
dent was  made  to  determine  the  relative  standing  of  the 
9-B's  and  the  10-B's.  The  pupils  are  graded  as  1,  2,  3,  4, 
or  5,  5  being  a  failing  mark. 


60  SPECIAL  REPORT 

TABLE  I — Percentage  oj  pupils  receiving  the  various  grades. 


Grade 

i 

2 

3 

4 

5 

9—  B 

20 

44  2 

30  5 

4  1 

1  2 

10—  B           

13 

30  5 

38  5 

14  5 

3  5 

Of  the  9-B's,  or  those  who  had  done  the  first  year  of 
English  in  the  elementary  schools,  20  per  cent  made  1,  or 
the  highest  mark,  while  only  13  per  cent  of  those  who  had 
done  English  in  the  high  school  made  1 ;  44  per  cent  of  the 
9-B's  made  2,  or  the  next  grade,  while  only  30.5  per  cent  of 
the  10-B's  made  2.  Only  36  per  cent  of  the  9-B's  made  3 
and  below  while  56  per  cent  of  the  10-B's  made  3  and  be- 
low. The  grades  made  in  the  second  year  were  thus  bet- 
ter for  those  who  had  done  the  first  year  of  English  in 
the  elementary  school.  There  are,  however,  some  unfair 
elements  in  this  comparison.  The  10-B's  included  all 
those  who  had  come  into  the  high  school  from  rural  and 
other  schools  while  the  9-B's  had  all  come  from  our  own 
schools.  But  the  10-B;s  had  done  their  first  year  of  Eng- 
lish in  our  high  school. 

The  record  of  students  in  the  second  semester  of  the 
high  school  made  after  ten  weeks  of  work  were  also  inves- 
tigated. In  the  following  table  those  designated  as  inter- 
mediates were  the  pupils  who  had  done  the  first  semester 
of  work  in  the  elementary  schools  and  those  classed  as 
high  school  pupils  had  done  this  work  in  the  high  school. 

TABLE  II— Percentage  oj  pupils  receiving  the  various  grades. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

JP^..,,,.  T,     J  Intermediate  

29 

29 

31 

9 

2 

(  xlign  oCiiool  

19 

43 

33 

4 

A  ;/w>hrvi    J  Intermediate  

24 

29 

32 

12 

2 

1  '  1  High  School  

16 

46 

26 

11 

Wi«/™*ir     j  Intermediate  

34 

28 

29 

8 

Uistoiy..]  H^h  School  

19 

26 

32 

18 

4 

An  examination  of  these  records  revealed  the  fact  that 
pupils  who  have  done  the  work  of  the  first  term  of  the 
high  school  in  the  elementary  school,  or  the  eighth  grade, 
come  into  the  high  school,  enter  the  second  term  of  alge- 
bra and  history  and  the  third  term  of  English,  compete 
with  older  students  who  have  done  the  first  semester  of 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


61 


those  subjects  iu  the  high  school,  and  make  just  as  good 
records. 

TABLE  III — Two-minute  speed  test  for  addition  in  algebra. 


Median 
after  six 
weeks  of  work 

Median 
after  eighteen 
weeks  of  work 

Intermediates 

34 

54 

High  School  

29 

42 

A  number  of  other  comparative  tests  of  pupils  in  the  in- 
termediate school  and  the  high  school  justify  the  conten- 
tion that  pupils  who  have  completed  the  seventh  year  of 
the  elementary  school  in  Boise,  as  now  organized,  are  ma- 
ture enough  to  enter  at  once  upon  subjects  formerly  re- 
served for  ninth  year  work  in  high  school. 

Summary. 

Elimination  of  waste  through  unnecessary  repetitious 
and  teaching  useless  topics  has  saved  a  year  in  the  ele- 
mentary school  for  intermediate  high  school  work  without 
any  sacrifice  of  the  interests  of  the  pupils. 

The  introduction  of  new  material  results  in  a  gain  in 
enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  pupils  and  in  broadening  their 
opportunities. 

Fewer  subjects  and  a  longer  recitation  period  produce 
greater  concentration  and  initiative  on  the  part  of  the  pu- 
pils. 

Teachers  with  better  scholastic  equipment  can  be  ob- 
tained for  the  intermediate  work  than  are  obtained  for 
the  grades. 

Pupils  from  the  intermediate  schools  are  able  to  enter 
second  or  third  term  high  school  classes  and  rank  well  in 
comparison  with  high  school  students. 


THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM. 

The  Koise  high  school  like  many  other  high  schools  of 
the  present  day  is  confronted  by  certain  problems  which 
grow  out  of  the  complexity  of  the  course  of  study  and  the 
consequent  difficulty  of  properly  adjusting  each  child  to 
the  work  that  shall  develop  the  special  type  of  ability  he 


62 


SPECIAL  REPORT 


possesses  and  which  shall  best  serve  his  own  vocational 
needs.  The  complexity  of  present  day  school  opportun- 
ity renders  imperative  the  adoption  of  some  clearly  defined 
principle  to  guide  students  and  a  practical  device  for  put- 
ting this  principle  in  operation. 

The  requirements  for  graduation  from  the  Boise  high 
school  are  that  thirty-two  semester  credits  shall  be  ob- 
tained. These  thirty-two  semester  credits  represent  four 
different  studies  each  semester  for  the  eight  semesters. 
The  thirty-two  credits  may  be  procured  from  a  curriculum 
that  offers  more  than  one  hundred  units  from  which  the 
choice  may  be  made.  If  the  pupils  are  to  distribute  their 
work  over  such  a  broad  field  of  choice,  a  very  liberal 
scheme  of  election  must  be  permitted.  The  scheme 
adopted  in  Boise  is  to  require  three  years  of  work  or  six 
credits  in  English  and  to  permit  each  student  to  select  the 
additional  twenty-six  credits  necessary  for  graduation  to 
fit  his  own  vocational  needs.  This  choice  may  be  made 
from  the  following  curriculum : 


English — 

1st    year 

2nd  year  

3rd  year 
4th  year  

History — 

Ancient  

Medieval  and  Modern..  2 
American   

Mathematics— 

Algebra  

Plane   Geometry- 
Higher  Algebra 

Solid  Geometry 

Trigonometry  

Surveying   1 

Science — 
Botany 

Zoology    

Physics  

Chemistry  

Household    Chemistry..  2 


Spanish— 

1st    year.. 2 

2nd  year.... 2 

Agriculture — 

General 2 

Farm  Management 1 

Machinery 1 

Horticulture  ..  .  2 


Animals 
Dairying 


Agricultural  Chemistry  2 


Industrial  Biology. 
Commercial — 
Bookkeeping 

Writing  

Correspondence 


4 

1 

1 

Commercial  Geography  2 

Commercial  Law 1 

Commercial  Arithmetic  2 

Shorthand 4 

Typewriting .  2 

Manual    Training 4 

Concrete  Construction..  2 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


63 


Latin —  Mechanical  Drawing— 

1st    year -  2  Elementary 

Caesar  2  Machine 

Cicero  2  Architectural  . 

Vergil  2  Lettering  ..  1 

German Home  Economics— 

1st  year...                        -  2  Cooking 

2nd  year...                       .  2  Sewing 

8rd  year 2  Costume   Design... 

4th  year...  -  2  Art  .  .6 

prench—  Music— 

1st    year 2  Glee  Club 

2nd  year  .              2  Orchestra 

3rd  year 2  Harmony 

4th  year  2     Expression   4 

In  permitting  the  student  to  select  eighty  per  cent  of 
his  studies,  the  danger  of  license  must  be  prevented.  The 
pupil,  upon  entering  the  high  school,  and  even  while  he 
is  yet  in  the  grades,  is  made  acquainted  with  the  purpose 
and  trend  of  each  course.  The  selection  of  studies  is  there 
left  to  the  pupil  himself,  but  this  selection  must  be  con- 
firmed by  the  parents  and  the  teacher  advisor. 

The  Teacher  Advisor. 

Much  has  been  written  in  recent  years  about  vocational 
guidance.  Some  very  fortunate  schools  are  able  to  em- 
ploy experts  to  determine  and  direct  the  vocational  trend 
of  students,  to  make  psychological  and  physiological  tests, 
industrial  surveys  of  the  community,  to  collect  for  their 
own  guidance  all  the  experience  of  all  the  laborers  in  this 
new  field  of  educational  research.  In  most  schools,  how- 
ever, the  regular  teachers  must  act  as  vocational  guides. 
They  are  probably  as  able  as  any  other  agents  to  assume 
this  great  responsibility.  They  have  access  to  all  the  edu- 
cational history  of  their  pupils,  their  successes  and  failures 
in  educational  endeavor,  the  mothers  and  fathers,  and  the 
family  resources  available  for  the  educational  equipment 
of  those  for  whom  they  are  responsible.  The  teachers  are 
permanent  members  of  the  community  and  can  know  def- 
initely its  industrial  possibilities.  The  teachers,  therefore, 
being  home  friends  of  long  standing  are  just  as  capable 


64  SPECIAL  REPORT 

to  act  as  vocational  guides  as  foreign  agents  no  matter 
how  expert  may  be  their  knowledge. 

The   Advisory   System. 

When  a  pupil  enters  the  Boise  high  school,  he  selects 
one  of  the  teachers  for  an  advisor.  If,  as  is  often  the  case, 
he  has  no  choice,  then  the  principal  makes  the  choice  for 
him.  In  selecting  an  advisor  it  is  intended  that  each  pupil 
shall  have  for  his  advisor  that  teacher  who,  because  of  his 
personality  or  of  the  subject  he  teaches,  will  be  most  likely 
to  maintain  the  most  helpful  relationship  with  such  pupil. 
In  our  plan  it  is  therefore  very  desirable  that  a  pupil  have 
the  same  advisor  during  all  his  four  years  in  high  school. 
The  principal  makes  such  changes  in  advisors  as  he  thinks 
will  be  of  the  most  benefit  to  pupils.  The  average  number 
of  pupils  to  an  advisor  is  from  twenty-five  to  thirty.  Fol- 
lowing is  a  brief  synopsis  of  the  duties  of  advisors : 

1.  To  become  as  familiar  as  possible  with  the  scholastic 
record  of  every  pupil  assigned  to  his  advisory  before  time 
for  the  term  enrollment  to  begin. 

2.  To  become    so    intimately    acquainted    with    each 
pupil's  environment,  his  likes  and  dislikes^  his  ambitions 
and  desires,  that  vocational  guidance  may  be  given  intel- 
ligently. 

3.  To  become  acquainted  as  early  as  possible  with  the 
parents  of  all  his  advisory,  so  that  the  home  and  the  school 
may  enter  into  and  maintain  that  co-operation  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  successful  school. 

4.  To  confer  with  each  pupil  in  his  advisory  indivi- 
dually and  make  assignments  to  classes. 

5.  To  take  every  precaution  necessary  to  see  that  each 
pupil  is  properly  enrolled  in  the  classes  best  suited  to  his 
individual  needs. 

6.  To  meet  his  advisory  for  fifteen  minutes  at  the  open- 
ing of  school  each  morning  for  the  purpose  of  taking  at- 
tendance, demanding  excuses  for  absence  and  tardiness, 
making  announcements  and  attending  to  such  other  ad- 
visory duties  as  are  necessary. 

7.  To  keep  a  complete  record  of  attendance  on   the 
attendance  cards  provided  for  that  purpose,  and  to  notify 
the  office  of  any  changes  in  address,  etc. 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  00 

8.  To  check  up  carefully  on  all  cases  of  absence  and 
tardiness,  each  advisor  being  held  responsible  for  the  de- 
velopment of  right  habits  of  regularity  and  punctuality 
in  all  his  group. 

9.  To  check  up  as  frequently    as    may    be    necessary 
(monthly,  weekly,  or  sometimes  even  daily)  upon  the  kind 
of  work  which  each  of  hisi  group  is  doing,  taking  every 
precaution  necessary  to  keep  each  pupil  working  up  to 
his  full  capacity. 

10.  To  enter  the  record  of  attendance  upon  the  report 
cards,  hand  out  these  cards,  and  check  their  return  when 
properly  signed. 

11.  In  brief,  to  hold  himself  absolutely  responsible  for 
keeping  every  pupil  in  his  group  in  the  best  possible  at- 
titude toward  the  school  and  school  work. 

The  selection  of  the  course  of  study  is  made  by  the 
pupil,  himself,  but  his  selection  must  be  confirmed  by  the 
teacher  advisor  after  conference  with  the  parent.  The 
teacher's  part  in  this  proceeding  is  to  advise,  not  to  re- 
quire. The  pupil  is  looking  forward  to  his  future  but  often 
with  a  very  vague  notion  of  where  this  road  or  that  road 
may  lead  him.  The  teacher  has  traveled  that  road  and 
often  his  experience  is  safer  as  a  guiding  force  than  the 
pupil's  vague  longings  and  caprice.  The  teacher,  as  a 
directing  agency,  is  also  necessary  to  enlist  the  thoughtful 
attention  of  the  parent  to  the  vocational  possibilities  the 
school  is  able  to  offer  his  child  and  to  demand  that  the 
parent  be  a  party  to  the  final  choice. 

The  limitations  of  the  teacher  advisor  plan  as  practiced 
in  Boise  are  not  that  the  teacher  lacks  interest  and  en- 
thusiasm in  discharging  faithfully  the  duties  thus  imposed 
upon  him.  All  have  approached  this  difficult  task  with 
zeal  and  energy.  But  each  is  more  or  less  inclined  to  view 
this  problem  from  the  standpoint  of  his  own  special  field 
of  intensive  study.  Each  very  naturally  values  highly  the 
particular  type  of  education  that  he  acquired  by  years  of 
hard  labor  and  great  sacrifice.  The  doctrine  of  formal  dis- 
cipline was  firmly  impressed  by  the  teachers  of  a  genera- 
tion ago. 

To  induce  all  teachers  to  eliminate  the  personal  equa- 
tion and  to  define  clearly  their  individual  notions  and  to 
study  the  extent  and  nature  of  variations  of  individual 
opinions,  Principal  C.  E.  Rose  of  the  high  school  proposed 


66 


SPECIAL  REPORT 


to  all  the  high  school  teachers  the  following  hypothetical 
case :  "A  young  man  is  entering  the  high  school  and  asks 
to  be  advised  as  to  just  what  studies  he  ought  to  take 
during  his  four  years  in  school.  You  are  convinced  that 
he  cannot  or  will  not  attend  more  than  four  years  of  high 
school.  After  that  he  says  he  expects  and  desires  to  go 
into  the  grocery  business  with  his  father.  Kindly  indicate 
below  the  number  of  credits  you  would  recommend  that  he 
receive  in  each  study  enumerated.  Make  your  totals  ex- 
actly 32.  (The  numerals  after  each  subject  indicate  the 
number  of  credits  offered  in  this  school)." 


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Horticulture  . 

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68 


SPECIAL  REPORT 


The  following  program  of  studies  for  the  young  retail 
grocer  was  obtained  from  the  foregoing  table  by  taking 
the  thirty-two  units  or  credits  which  received  the  greatest 
number  of  "votes"  from  the  advisors.  This  program  then 
is  the  consensus  of  opinion  of  the  thirty-five  advisors  : 

English,  4  years  ..................  8  credits 

American  History  ..............  2  credits 

Algebra  ............  .  ...................  2  credits 

Physics  —  .............................  2  credits) 

Chemistry  ............................  2  credits 

German,  1  year  ....................  2  credits 

—    18  credits 
Bookkeeping,  2  years  ..........  4  credits 

Writing  ................................  1  credit 

Correspondence  ..................  1  credit 

Commercial  Arithmetic  ......  2  credits 

Commercial  Geography  ......  2  credits 

Commercial  Law  ................  1  credit 

Typewriting  .....................  —  1  credit 

Manual    Training  ................  1  credit 

Lettering  (Mech.  Draw.)     1  credit 

--     14  credits 


32  credits 

In  the  table  below  is  given  a  comparison  of  the  sum- 
mary (Column  1)  ;  the  judgment  of  Advisor  No.  29,  who 
came  the  closest  to  the  consensus  of  opinion  (Column  2)  ; 
the  judgment  of  Advisor  No.  7,  who  gives  the  maximum  of 
traditional  subjects  (Column  3)  ;  and  the  judgment  of 
Advisor  No.  24,  who  gives  the  maximum  of  industrial  or 
vocational  subjects  (Column  4). 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


69 


Subject 

1 

2 

3 

4 

2 

2 

o 

2 

o 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

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2 

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2 

2 

9 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

Botany  

2 

Physics  

2 
2 

2 

2 
2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

4 

4 

4 

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1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

Manual  Training1 

1 

4 

Fifty-four  per  cent  of  all  the  assignments  were  for  trad- 
itional subjects  and  forty-six  for  vocational  studies. 

The  value  of  the  study  to  all  has  been  to  show  that  the 
composite  opinion  so  nearly  distributed  the  assignments 
between  traditional  and  vocational  subjects.  The  discus- 
sions growing  out  of  the  investigation  will  surely  correct 
the  extremes  of  variation  in  individual  attitudes.  Teach- 
ers and  parents,  generally,  approve  the  liberal  election 
system.  Anticipated  evils  have  been  avoided  by  having 
the  choice  confirmed  by  the  teacher  advisor  and  the 
parent. 

The  teacher  advisor  has  other  duties  to  perform  beside 
that  of  supervising  the  selection  of  a  program  of  studies. 
Each  teacher  is  expected  to  keep  the  greatest  possible  per 
cent  of  his  group  in  school  for  the  entire  four  years' 
course.  The  importance  of  retaining  pupils  in  school  for 
the  full  four  years  is  shown  by  the  contrast  in  the  two  fol- 
lowing reports:  "The  Massachusetts  Commission  on  In- 
dustrial and  Technical  Education,  which  tabulated  infor- 
mation of  over  three  thousand  families  of  the  state  whose 
children  had  quit  school  to  go  to  work,  discovered  that  66 
per  cent  of  these  families  could  have  kept  their  children 
in  school;  33  per  cent  of  these  children  were  found  in  un- 
skilled industries;  65  per  cent  in  low  grade  industries; 


70  SPECIAL  REPORT 

and  less  than  5  per  cent  in  high  grade  industries.  The 
boys  left  school  for  a  job,  not  to  learn  a  trade.  All  sorts 
of  attractions  had  appealed  to  them  and  they  had  drifted 
from  one  thing  to  another.  This  is  waste,  pure  and  sim- 
ple, from  whatever  standpoint  it  is  viewed.  What  these 
children  might  have  done  had  they  remained  in  school 
and  completed  the  high  school  course,  is  shown  by  the 
Report  of  the  Student's  Aid  Committee  of  the  New  York 
City  High  School  Teachers'  Association  in  Vocational 
Guidance.  The  aim  of  this  committee  is  to  secure  em- 
ployment for  pupils  during  vacation  and  during  out-of- 
school  hours,  in  order  to  earn  a  part  of  their  support;  to 
advise  those  who  are  ready  to  leave  school  in  the  choice  of 
a  vocation;  to  direct  them  in  how  to  fit  themselves  for 
their  chosen  vocation ;  and  to  aid  them  in  securing  employ- 
ment that  will  lead  to  success  in  these  vocations.  The 
committee  learned  that  ten  thousand  pupils  who  completed 
courses  in  the  New  York  High  Schools  easily  found  em- 
ployment, but  a  report  of  193  representatives  of  labor 
unions  showed  that  sixty  thousand  or  28  per  cent  wrere 
out  of  employment,  while  a  canvass  of  all  the  eleven  hun- 
dred graduates  of  an  evening  high  school  showed  only  3 
per  cent  out  of  employment.  As  against  the  statistics 
from  Massachusetts,  which  showed  that  those  who  had 
left  school  in  the  early  part  of  their  school  career,  were 
aimlessly  drifting  in  unskilled  industries,  stands  the  sig- 
nificant fact  that  high  school  pupils  in  New  York,  more 
than  90  per  cent  of  them,  had  helped  themselves  to  find 
positions,  obtained  work  and  held  their  jobs,  and  that 
the  committee  had  succeeded  in  placing  those  who  needed 
help."  (Greenwood). 

In  Boise,  practically  all  children  who  have  any  ability 
complete  the  work  of  the  elementary  school.  A  recent 
careful  census  showed  only  47  pupils  under  18  years  of 
age  who  had  not  completed  the  elementary  school  or  were 
not,  at  the  time  of  census  taking,  in  school.  The  high 
school  teachers  have  been  laboring  intensively  to  keep  al! 
the  pupils  in  the  high  school  for  the  entire  course. 

Each  advisor  is  responsible  for  his  own  group  of 
twenty-five.  The  first  fifteen  minutes  of  each  morning 
session,  every  teacher  spends  with  his  own  group.  He 
checks  up  attendance,  sees  that  no  absence  from  school 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


71 


or  any  class  is  permitted  unless  it  is  absolutely  unavoid- 
able. Keport  is  immediately  sent  to  the  advisor  if  any  of 
his  pupils  are  doing  unsatisfactory  work  with  other 
teachers.  If  unsatisfactory  work  is  reported,  the  advisor 
immediately  confers  with  the  delinquent  student  and  with 
his  parents,  and  better  work  almost  always  results.  Thus 
this  individual  labor  with  every  student  who  begins  to  do 
poor  work  or  begins  to  attend  school  irregularly  keeps 
the  school  mortality  at  a  very  low  per  cent  and  every  stu 
dent  is  held  to  a  standard  of  achievement  which  more 
nearly  measure*,  up  t  the  maximum  of  his  power  than 
any  purely  group  method  of  treatment  could  accomplish. 
Careful  checks  are  kept  of  the  success  of  each  teacher  in 
adjusting  each  student  to  the  type  of  work  that  he  should 
pursue  and  keeping  him  up  to  a  satisfactory  standard  of 
performance  of  his  assigned  labors,  in  preventing  unneces- 
sary absence,  and  retaining  him  in  school  for  the  entire 
course. 

INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION. 

"The  modern  contention  is  that  a  man's  adjustment  to 
the  world  in  which  he  lives  is  dependent  upon  three  types 
of  training:  (1)  A  general  or  liberal  education  which 
will  give  him  a  command  over  those  human  institutions  in 
which  he  holds  a  membership  in  common  with  other  men ; 
(2)  a  specialized  vocational  education  which  will  fit  him 
for  a  particular  economic  function;  and  (3)  an  appren- 
ticeship to  his  specific  work  and  station  in  life  which  will 
snugly  fit  his  theoretic  education  to  the  concrete  and  prac- 
tical situations!  which  he  must  meet."  (Economy  of 
Time  in  Education).  The  general  and  liberal  education 
is  the  type  of  training  which  the  public  schools  have  long 
been  accustomed  to  impart.  It  thus  presents  no  new  dif- 
ficulty. Within  its  present  organization  and  even  with 
its  present  force  of  teachers,  trained  only  along  traditional 
lines,  the  high  school  can  conduct  some  phases  of  special- 
ized vocational  education.  Organized  facts  and  principles 
underlying  industrial  trades  may  be  attacked  just  as  trad- 
itional subjects  are  studied.  Drill  in  technique  may  cul- 
tivate a  type  of  skill  in  manipulation  of  the  tools  of  the 
various  trades.  All  these  and  many  more  phases  of  in- 


72  SPECIAL  REPORT 

dustrial  education  may  be  taught  in  the  school  room  under 
the  present  school  organization. 

But  apprenticeship  under  real  life  conditions  presents 
a  more  difficult  administrative  problem.  Co-operation 
between  the  school  and  the  community  is  a  new  relation- 
ship which  presents  new  educational  problems.  To  ac- 
complish this  aim,  a  series  of  co-operation  between  the 
school  and  the  community  must  be  established  which  will 
guarantee  an  apprenticeship  under  actual  life  and  work- 
ing conditions,  the  supervision  of  which  is  to  be  domin- 
ated by  educational  ideals  and  control  which  guarantee 
that  the  growth  of  the  apprentice  shall  be  a  more  impor- 
tant consideration  than  his  commercial  productiveness, 
which  was  the  only  dominating  motive  of  the  old  ap- 
prenticeship system  of  trade  education.  The  difficulty 
confronting  the  present  public  school  management  is  to 
furnish  apprenticeship  training  which  shall  retain  the 
educational  ideal  and  minimize  the  productive  factor  and 
also  make  this  training  function  in  real  life  situations. 

The  school  authorities  of  Boise  have  attempted  to  give 
the  pupils  training  which  shall  retain  the  educational 
ideal  and  also  furnish  apprenticeship  labor  in  real  life 
situations  instead  of  in  artifcial  school  projects. 

Agricultural  Education. 

The  City  of  Boise  is  situated  in  the  Boise  Valley,  and 
depends  for  its  support  upon  four  hundred  thousand  acres 
of  irrigated  land.  The  system  of  irrigation  includes  a 
storage  reservoir  erected  by  the  Government  at  a  cost  of 
six  million  dollars.  The  cost  of  the  land  and  the  water 
are,  therefore,  so  great  that  scientific  agriculture,  horti- 
culture, and  stockraising  are  necessary  to  make  the  indus- 
try yield  an  income  on  the  large  investment  per  acre. 

Under  these  conditions,  agriculture  must  always  be  the 
prevailing  industry  of  the  entire  community.  The  cost  of 
production  is  so  high  that  all  the  literature  of  agricul- 
tural research  and  all  the  successful  experiments  to  in- 
crease production  and  to  elevate  the  standard  of  products, 
must  be  applied  to  put  the  industry  on  an  income  produc- 
ing basis. 

With  such  community  environment,  agricultural  educa- 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


73 


tion  should  be  the  most  important  type  of  vocational  edu- 
cation available  to  the  pupils  in  the  schools.  During  the 
present  school  year  this  department  has  enrolled  more 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty  pupils,  and  three  teachers 
have  furnished  instruction  in  farm  crops,  farm  soils,  farm 
machinery,  farm  management,  horticulture,  animal  hus- 
bandry, agricultural  chemistry,  food  chemistry,  and  in- 
dustrial biology. 

The  cereal,  forage,  and  root  crops  suitable  for  growing 
in  this  region  are  studied.  Emphasis  is  placed  upon  the 
value  of  rotation,  seed  selection,  cultivation,  methods  of 
propagation,  methods  of  soil  management  to  secure  the 
highest  yields,  as  well  as  the  common  insects,  plant  dis- 
eases, and  weeds. 

The  dominating  ideal  of  the  department  has  been  to 
make  the  connection  between  the  school  and  the  agricul- 
tural industry  of  the  community  close,  vital,  and  com- 
plete. In  the  fall  of  1913,  Mr.  H.  W.  Hochbaum  was  em- 
ployed to  supervise  the  department  of  agriculture  in  the 
high  school  and  to  act  as  agricultural  agent  for  Ada 
County.  Three  thousand  dollars  were  provided  for  his 
salary  and  expenses,  the  Board  of  Education  furnishing 
one-half  of  this  sum  and  the  Commercial  Club  of  Boise 
subscribing  the  other  half.  Mr.  Hochbaum  spent  three 
days  of  each  week  in  the  school  supervising  instruction  in 
agriculture  and  three  days  in  the  field  directing  all  the 
distinctive  enterprises  in  agriculture,  horticulture  and 
stock-raising  for  the  entire  valley.  The  entire  county 
thus  became  a  working  laboratory  for  the  agricultural  de- 
partment in  the  high  school.  The  students  were  taken 
into  the  country  and  studied  all  the  projects  the  County 
Agent  was  directing.  In  school  they  had  studied  the 
principles  underlying  all  these  enterprises.  On  the  farm 
in  real  working  and  practical  situations,  they  were  shown 
the  application  of  these  principles.  During  the  summer, 
Mr.  Hochbaum  secured  employment  for  boys  on  farms  that 
were  really  under  his  supervision.  The  farmer  paid  the 
boys  for  their  labor  and  they  received  credit  in  school  for 
laboratory  work  in  agriculture. 

In  the  spring  of  1913,  the  Board  of  Education  leased  a 
ranch  within  a  convenient  distance  from  the  school,  which 
contained  a  commercial  orchard  of  several  varieties  of 


74  SPECIAL  REPORT 

apples,  productive  berry  tracts,  and  ample  room  for  vege- 
table and  field  crops.  The  students  were  taught,  upon 
this  ranch,  under  real  life  conditions,  to  plant,  spray,  cul- 
tivate, prune  and  irrigate  fruit  trees,  to  pick,  pack  and 
market  the  products;  to  pick,  pack  and  market  a  great 
variety  of  berries;  to  plant,  cultivate  and  sell  the  types 
of  vegetables  and  field  crops  adapted  to  this  region.  OD 
this  farm,  every  phase  of  irrigation  was  studied  and  ap- 
plied. 

The  Board  of  Education,  four  years  ago,  purchased  a 
forty  acre  tract  of  land  on  the  bank  of  the  Boise  River, 
easily  accessible  to  all  the  school  buildings  in  the  city. 
A  landscape  artist  was  employed  to  furnish  plans  and 
specifications  for  the  improvement  of  this  tract  into  a 
modern  playground,  containing  football  and  baseball 
fields,  children's  playgrounds,  swimming  lake,  wading 
pool  and  outdoor  gymnasium.  For  the  past  three  years, 
the  department  of  agriculture  has  been  developing  this 
playground  according  to  the  plans  and  specifications.  A 
variety  of  trees  and  shrubs  were  called  for  by  the  specifi- 
cations. These  might  have  been  bought,  but,  for  training 
in  forestry,  a  school  nursery  was  started  in  which  these 
trees  and  shrubs  were  propagated  and  grown.  This  work 
has  been  conducted  under  the  supervision  of  an  instructor 
who  has  a  Master's  Degree  in  Forestry  from  Yale  and  has 
had  two  years'  experience  in  the  United  States  Forestry 
Department. 

Mr.  Hochbaum,  in  the  process  of  his  duties  as  County 
Agent,  organized  a  dairy  association  with  a  membership 
of  about  thirty  ranchmen  who  owned  several  hundred 
cows.  The  boys  in  the  dairy  classes  went  to  these  dairy 
farms  once  each  month,  were  entertained,  each  on  a  dif- 
ferent farm,  for  the  night,  collected  samples  of  the  milk 
from  each  cow,  brought  it  into  the  laboratory,  tested  it 
and  kept  a  record  of  the  tests  of  each  animal.  The  dairy- 
men thus  learned  which  of  their  cows  were  income  pro- 
ducing propositions  and  which  were  boarders.  The  boys 
were  paid  a  nominal  sum  for  this  work  by  the  farmers  and 
were  given  laboratory  credits  for  their  time  in  the  school. 
In  this  way,  the  boys  came  into  close  personal  and  social 
contact  with  the  most  intelligent  ranchmen  in  the  valley. 

Much  attention  has  been  directed  toward  stock-raising 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

and  dairying  in  the  Boise  Valley.  The  school  author- 
ities have  been  in  entire  sympathy  with  this  movement 
and  are  attempting  to  keep  in  the  front  rank  of  promoters. 
An  instructor  was  employed  at  the  beginning  of  this  school 
year,  who  had  graduated  from  the  Dairy  Department  of 
the  Utah  Agricultural  College,  had  studied  dairying  for 
two  years  in  Belgium  and  Holland,  had  taught  the  sub- 
ject in  the  Utah  Agricultural  College  and  for  the  past  two 
years  had  been  managing  his  own  dairy  farm  and  dairy 
herd.  The  Board  of  Education  leased  for  a  term  of  five 
years  a  farm  located  a  little  over  a  mile  from  the  high 
school  and  is  now  conducting  a  modern  dairy  on  this 
ranch.  The  herd  consists  of  sixteen  high  grade  Holstein 
cows.  Mr.  Clawson  Y.  Cannon,  the  instructor  in  this  de- 
partment, lives  upon  the  farm  and  has  accepted  the  re- 
sponsibility of  making  the  business  pay,  as  well  as  fur 
nish  exceptional  facilities  for  practical  work  by  the  stu- 
dents of  that  branch  of  farm  instruction.  This  farm  also 
has  two  good  apple  orchards  which  furnish  excellent  prac- 
tice for  the  horticultural  classes.  Ample  fields  are  now  in 
cultivation  to  furnish  practical  lessons  in  grain  and  for- 
age crops.  A  concrete  silo  will  be  built  by  the  boys  this 
spring  in  which  they  will  next  fall  store  the  silage  for  the 
cows.  A  large  number  of  brood  sows  owned  by  the  school 
have  farrowed  during  the  spring.  These  furnish  interest- 
ing lessons  in  breeding  and  feeding.  Sixty  or  more  hogs 
will  be  ready  for  market  in  the  fall  and  will  yield  a  hand- 
some profit  on  this  investment.  The  farm  supports  poul- 
try stock  and  furnishes  poultry  products  for  the  local  mar- 
ket. The  purpose  of  the  school  is  to  conduct  on  this  farm 
of  sixty  acres  and  such  additional  land  as  may  be  rented, 
every  phase  of  farm  industry  which  may  be  profitably  con- 
ducted in  the  Boise  Valley,  to  make  each  department  bear 
its  own  expense  and  produce  its  own  profit,  to  have  the 
boys  do  much  of  the  work,  keep  all  the  accounts,  and  know 
the  reason  for  the  profit  or  loss  that  may  result.  The 
school  farm  and  the  various  enterprises  that  are  now  be- 
ing conducted  there  are  almost  as  interesting  to  each  stu- 
dent and  the  source  of  almost  as  much  individual  pride 
as  would  be  possible  were  they  individually  owned  by  each 
pupil. 


76  SPECIAL  REPORT 

Boise  is  the  distributing  center  for  a  large  agricultural 
district.  Three  large  wholesale  farm  implement  houses 
are  in  the  city  as  well  as  a  number  of  retail  establishments. 
These  houses  gladly  furnish  the  classes  in  farm  machinery 
all  classes  of  farm  tools  for  demonstration  purposes.  One 
merchant  has  permitted  the  students  to  demonstrate  his 
wares  in  the  field  for  the  benefit  of  prospective  purchasers. 
Arrangements  were  made  whereby  the  merchant  paid  the 
boys  a  commission  on  all  farm  machinery  thus  sold,  and 
they  were  also  given  credit  in  school  for  their  labor,  the 
amount  of  school  credit  depending  upon  their  success  a* 
salesmen. 

Manual  Training. 

In  the  manual  training  shops,  beginners  have  their  reg- 
ular course  in  joinery  and  construction  work.  The 
routine  shop  drill  whereby  the  students  acquire  skill  in 
technique  is  not  neglected. 

In  order,  however,  that  they  may  have  training  under 
real  apprenticeship  conditions,  they  do  all  the  repair 
work  for  the  entire  school,  construct  new  equipment  such 
as  chemistry  tables ;  benches  for  the  mechanical  drawing 
rooms;  new  benches,  tool  cabinets,  tool  panels  and  lockers 
for  the  wood  working  shop;  the  entire  equipment  for  the 
two  cooking  laboratories,  including  the  benches,  tables, 
cupboards,  built-in  sinks  and  drain  boards,  and  refrigera- 
tors. In  the  sewing  room,  tables,  fitting  stands,  screens, 
and  closets  were  constructed.  Bookcases  have  been  made 
for  the  offices  of  the  supervisors  and  superintendent,  and 
such  benches,  cabinets  and  closets  as  were  necessary  for 
the  commercial  department.  Another  feature  of  the 
work  this  year  has  been  the  construction  of  furniture  for 
the  Idaho  Building  at  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition.  In 
the  summer  of  1913,  a  group  of  boys  worked  all  summer 
under  one  of  the  instructors  in  the  manual  training  de- 
partment, as  foreman,  on  the  finishing  work  of  the  high 
school  building.  At  the  school  park  a  grandstand  and 
bleachers  were  built  with  seating  capacity  for  two  thous- 
and. A  club  house  including  shower  bath  will  be  con- 
structed this  spring.  At  the  school  farm,  gates  and 
fences  have  been  repaired  and  rebuilt  over  the  entire  farm. 
A  planker,  a  split-log  drag,  houses  and  pens  for  poultry 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

and  pigs,  flumes  and  headgates  for  the  irrigation  system, 
have  also  been  made  by  the  manual  training  classes.  For 
all  of  this  out-of-school  work,  the  Board  of  Education 
pays  the  boys  an  amount  per  hour  that  would  represent 
the  cost  if  regular  carpenters  were  employed.  The  stu- 
dents are  also  given  regular  credit  for  the  work.  All  jobs 
of  work  done  in  the  community  by  boys  in  these  classes  are 
given  such  credit  as  our  own  building  superintendent,  who 
has  made  a  competence  as  a  building  contractor,  recom- 
mends. 

Cement  Construction. 

Tn  this  department,  the  elements  of  concrete  construc- 
tion are  worked  out  in  the  shop  in  the  high  school.  The 
principles  learned  have  recently  been  applied  in  the  con- 
struction of  three  thousand  feet  of  sidewalk  and  curb  about 
the  high  school;  concrete  fence  posts  to  enclose  the  forty- 
acre  school  playground;  concrete  curb  about  the  quarter- 
mile  race  track  on  the  same  field;  concrete  flumes  and 
headgates  for  the  irrigation  system;  headgates,  feeding 
troughs,  watertank  and  hitching  posts  for  the  school  farm ; 
drinking  fountains1  for  the  playgrounds  for  each  of  the 
grade  schools;  flower  urns  and  various  forms  of  garden 
furniture.  A  large  concrete  silo  is  now  being  constructed 
on  the  farm  as  well  as  the  foundation  and  flooring  for  the 
club  house  at  the  park.  Concrete  flooring  and  feeding 
devices  were  also  put  in  the  dairy  barn  at  the  farm. 

Drafting  Department. 

In  the  drafting  department,  students  are  taught  ele- 
mentary mechanical  drawing,  machine  and  architectural 
drafting,  orthographic  projections  and  developments,  geo- 
metric construction  problems,  elementary  machine  design, 
drawings  of  pumps,  and  similar  machine  drawing. 

Work  in  fancy  alphabets,  lettering,  embossing,  show 
cards,  window  cards,  advertising  for  school  activities  pre- 
senting athletic  meets  and  contests  of  various  kinds  are 
gotten  out  by  the  students.  The  diplomas  for  the  graduates 
are  made  entirely  by  the  students  in  the  drafting  depart- 
ment. 

Students  are  taught  the  principles  of  building  construc- 
tion, covering  drawing  of  complete  plans,  getting  up  spe- 


78  SPECIAL  REPORT 

cifications  and  bills  of  material  for  building.  In  this  de- 
partment, the  plans,  bills  of  material  and  specifications 
were  drawn  for  the  Washington  and  Lowell  school  build- 
ings, each  of  which  cost  about  thirty-six  thousand  dollars. 
The  architect's  fee  was  saved  by  permitting  the  students 
to  do  this  work.  This  saving  alone  was  enough  to  pay  the 
teacher  of  agricultural  drafting  for  two  years,  no  archi- 
tect having  anything  to  do  with  the  designing  or  construc- 
tion of  the  building.  The  boys  also  made  the  first  complete 
and  correct  plat  map  of  the  city  and  school  district,  con- 
sisting of  fifty-six  subdivisions.  This  map  contained  the 
location  and  description  of  all  the  property  owned  by  the 
public  school  organization.  TMs  department  has  furnish- 
ed plans  for  a  number  of  rural  school  houses.  During  the 
past  three  years,  many  residences  have  been  built  from 
plans  and  specificationsi  furnished  by  the  students  of  archi- 
tectural drafting.  The  following  extract  from  the  "Even- 
ing Capital  News"  (March  26,  1915)  of  Boise  is  given  to 
illustrate  the  manner  in  which  practical  application  is 
made  of  the  principles  of  drafting  learned : 

"W.  N.  Yost,  Boise  valley's  well  known  fruit  grower, 
this  week  will  move  into  his  handsome  new7  $4800  bunga- 
low at  Bissell  station  on  the  interurban  car  line,  two  miles 
northeast  of  Meridian.  This  house,  which  is  nearly  com- 
pleted, contains  11  rooms,  is  strictly  modern,  and  is  one  of 
the  prettiest  suburban  homes  in  the  valley. 

"An  interesting  feature  of  this  house  is  the  fact  that  all 
the  specifications  for  its  construction  were  made  by  Don 
Yost,  the  19-year  son  of  W.  N.  Yost,  who  got  all  his 
knowledge  as  an  architect  from  the  Boise  high  school  while 
a  student  there.  This  speaks  volumes  for  the  efficiency  of 
the  work  done  at  the  Boise  high  school." 

Commercial  Department. 

In  this  community  are  many  young  people  who  will  not 
or  cannot  go  to  college.  A  considerable  number  of  these 
hope  to  make  a  living  by  office  work  after  they  have  com- 
pleted their  high  school  course.  The  commercial  depart- 
ment of  the  Boise  high  school  fully  realizes  this  situation 
and  has  so  arranged  its  work  that  those  who  wish  to  make 
special  preparation  for  office  work  may  do  so  with  full  as- 
surance that  when  they  have  completed  the  course  they 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  79 

will  be  well  prepared  to  assume  the  responsibilities  office 
positions  in  real  life  impose  upon  them. 

The  training  in  the  commercial  department  includes 
just  as  much  of  real  business  situations!  as  can  possibly 
be  secured.  The  students,  in  co-operation  with  the  domes- 
tic science  classes,  keep  the  books  of  the  cafeteria.  Co- 
operating with  classes  in  agriculture,  they  keep  the  books 
of  the  many  farm  enterprises  conducted  by  the  school. 
This  department  keeps  the  books,  attends  to  the  purchase 
and  distribution  of  all  goods  and  supplies  necessary  for  all 
phases  of  student  body  activities.  Thisi  means  the  account- 
ing for  several  thousand  dollars  of  expenditure  annually. 
This  department  conducts  the  students'  supply  depart- 
ment and  thus  purchases,  sells  and  pays  for  many  books 
and  supplies  each  year  sold  to  the  students.  It,  also,  su- 
pervises the  purchase,  distribution  and  payment  for  many 
school  books  and  supplies  furnished  by  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation. The  teachers  in  the  department,  also,  eagerly 
seek  in  shops  and  offices  opportunities  for  their  students 
to  acquire  practice  in  real  business  situations.  Business 
men  know  they  can  at  the  school  get  a  bookkeeper  or 
stenographer  for  short  periods  and  that  the  practice  for 
the  student  is  considered  ample  compensation.  Much  of 
the  stenography  and  typewriting  for  the  superintendent, 
supervisors  and  principals  is  done  by  the  students  in  the 
commercial  department. 

In  many  of  these  situations,  public  money  is  involved; 
therefore  all  transactions  conducted  by  students  must  be 
carefully  checked  by  a  teacher.  But  it  takes  no  more  time 
to  check  a  real  life  problem  than  it  does  to  check  up  an  ar- 
tificial school  project. 

For  several  years  the  head  of  the  department  has  been 
active  in  finding  employment  for  graduates  and  has 
placed  in  satisfactory  positions  nearly  all  of  those  who 
have  graduated  from  the  school  and  who  have  wished  po- 
sitions. In  many  cases,  promotion  of  former  students  has 
also  been  secured  through  the  business  department  of  the 
school.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  those  who  have  been  out 
of  school  for  several  years  to  apply  to  this  department  for 
assistance  of  one  kind  or  another.  This  close  contact  be- 
tween the  community  and  the  commercial  department 
stimulates  the  teachers  to  keep  the  school  work  up  to  a 
standard  that  insures  efficiency  and  competency  on  the 


80  SPECIAL  REPORT 

part  of  the  graduates  of  the  department,  and  also  finds  a 
great  opportunity  for  rendering  a  real  service  to  the  comr 
munity  by  bringing  graduates  and  employers  together  in 
such  a  way  that  the  employer  gets  the  kind  of  help  he 
wants  and  the  graduate  gets  the  kind  of  position  best 
suited  to  his  capacity  and  temperament.  The  work  of 
the  true  teachers  in  any  department  does  not  end  with  the 
graduation  exercises. 

There  have  been  enrolled  in  the  commercial  department 
during  the  year  just  ended  297  different  pupils.  Two 
hundred  and  sixteen  graduates  of  the  high  school  and  from 
this  department  are  now  holding  business  or  office  posi- 
tions. A  large  proportion  of  these  have  been  placed  by 
the  activity  of  the  teachers. 

An  organization  of  advanced  students  and  graduates 
was  effected  at  the  annual  banquet  in  March,  1914.  Its 
object  is  to  promote  greater  efficiency  in  the  school  work 
and  among  the  graduates  after  they  have  accepted  posi- 
tions, and  also  to  find  places  for  the  members  of  the  grad- 
uating class  each  year  and  to  secure  promotions  for  those 
already  employed. 

The  following"  letter  is  a  copy  that  each  employer  of 
office  help  in  all  southern  Idaho  gets  each  year : 

May  23,  1914. 
Boise  City  National  Bank,  808  Idaho  Street,  Boise,  Ida. 

Gentlemen:  We  respectfully  call  your  attention  to  the 
fact  that  we  are  giving  many  young  people  of  this  city  and 
surrounding  country  a  thorough  preparation  for  office 
work,  and  that  you  are  helping  to  pay  for  it.  Not  only  are 
we  giving  them  special  preparation,  but  a  general  educa- 
tion as  well. 

Those  whose  names  appear  on  the  enclosed  list  will 
graduate  this  year  and  will  want  to  work.  Look  over  the 
list.  Perhaps  you  know  some  whose  names  appear  there. 

If  you  are  in  need  of  a  bookkeeper,  stenographer  or 
other  office  help,  ask  us  to  send  one  or  more  of  these  peo- 
ple for  a  trial  now.  They  will  be  glad  to  show  you,  free 
of  charge,  what  they  can  do. 

If  you  are  not  now  in  need  of  help,  kindly  file  the  list  for 
future  reference,  and  remember  that  we  can,  at  almost  any 
time  of  the  year,  put  you  in  touch  with  the  kind  of  office 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  81 

help  you  want.     This  is  a  public  school  and  its  service  is 
free. 

During  business  hours  'phone  the  High  School  and  ask 
for  Mr.  Williams.    Any  other  time  call  1941- J. 

Yours  Kespectfully, 

HIGH  SCHOOL  COMMERCIAL  DEPARTMENT. 


JFW— MS  Director. 

Illustrations  of  the  effort  to  make  the  industrial  or  vo- 
cational work  of  the  school  afford  training  that  shall  have 
all  the  educational  value  of  the  old  apprenticeship  system, 
yet  keeping  the  educational  motive  dominant  instead  of 
the  former  production  motive,  might  be  continued  indefi- 
nitely. The  same  idea  is  carried  out  in  the  departments 
of  music,  art,  and  household  economics.  Teachers  are  be- 
coming each  year  more  proficient  in  making  school  and 
community  connections. 

THE    CO-ORDINATION    OF    INDUSTRIAL    STUDIES 

WITH    TRADITIONAL  SUBJECTS   IN   THE 

HIGH    SCHOOL    CURRICULUM. 

A  communication  to  the  "Nation"  from  Leland  Stanford 
Junior  University  (November  27,  1913,  XCVII,  506)  de- 
plores the  fact  that  industrial  education  is  rapidly  crowd- 
ing out  of  the  high  school  curriculum  those  studies  usually 
classed  as  cultural  or  traditional.  The  writer  asserts  that 
teachers  meet  in  institutes  to  talk  about  social  obligation 
and  industrial  efficiency  and  to  sneer  at  intellectual  attain- 
ment. In  all  of  these  statements,  he  merely  expresses  an 
unconfirmed  fear.  He  presents  no  data  to  justify  his  pre- 
diction that  children  will  become  "noisy,  happy  and 
empty"  if  they  are  permitted  to  select  industrial  subjects. 
This  article  voices  the  objections  most  frequently  urged 
against  industrial  education,  viz.,  that  these  newer  school 
activities  crowd  out  cultural  subjects  and  fail  to  stimulate 
intellectual  effort  and  to  measure  intellectual  achievement. 

The  addition  of  industrial  education  to  the  curriculum 
of  the  Boise,  Idaho,  High  School  has  produced  some  re- 
sults that  may  comfort  this  writer  to  the  "Nation"  and 
those  who  share  his  fears.  During  the  past  five  years, 
thirty-one  years  of  industrial  subjects  have  been  added  to 


82  SPECIAL  REPORT 

the  curriculum,  consisting  of  ten  years  of  commercial 
studies,  six  of  agriculture,  six  of  home  economics,  two  of 
industrial  art,  three  years  of  shopwork  in  wood  and  con- 
crete, and  four  in  mechanical,  machine,  and  architectural 
drafting.  Nine  years  of  cultural  subjects  have  also  been 
added  to  the  curriculum,  which  now  offers  thirty-one  years 
of  industrial  work  and  thirty-one  years  of  traditional 
studies.  Sixteen  years  or  units  of  work  are  required  for 
graduation.  If  students  are  to  distribute  their  choice  over 
a  curriculum  offering  sixty-two  units,  unusual  freedom 
of  election  must  be  permitted.  Three  years)  of  English 
are  required  of  all ;  each  student  may  select  to  suit  his  own 
vocational  needs  the  additional  thirteen  units  necessary 
for  graduation. 

The  most  noticeable  effect  of  this  policy  has  been  a  mark- 
ed increase  in  attendance.  In  1908,  there  were  400  stu- 
dents in  the  high  school.  Last  year,  997  were  enrolled, 
and  this  year  there  is  an  enrollment  of  1056.  Five  years 
ago,  the  largest  class  in  the  history  of  the  school  up  to 
that  time  was  graduated.  There  were  44  in  that  class.  A 
year  ago,  144  were  graduated,  and  this  year  168  will  be 
awarded  diplomat.  In  other  words,  the  high  school  en- 
rollment has  increased  160  per  cent  in  six  years,  and  the 
number  graduating  has  increased  fourfold.  (The  high 
school  enrollment  now  constitutes  26  per  cent  of  the  total 
enrollment  of  the  school,  a  percentage  of  high  school  en- 
rollment unequalled  by  any  city  in  the  United  States  of 
more  than  twenty  thousand. )  Whence  came  this  unusual 
increase?  The  growth  of  the  city  did  not  occasion  it,  since 
the  elementary  school  enrollment  has  increased  only  11 
per  cent  during  the  same  period.  The  number  of  non-resi- 
dent pupils  has  not  materially  increased,  as  there  were  col- 
lected in  tuition  at  $40  per  capita  but  $2,269  in  1914  as 
against  $2162  in  1909.  In  1915  there  was  collected  $3300 
in  tuition.  (This  increase  in  amount  over  that  of  1914 
does  not  represent  an  increase  in  the  number  of  pupils 
but  an  increased  vigilance  in  collecting  tuition.)  Hence 
these  two  presumable  sources  of  increase  must  be  elimi- 
nated. 

The  inference  remaining  is  that,  as  the  curriculum 
broadened  and  included  more  and  more  of  industrial  work, 
many  children  who  would  not  have  entered  a  high  school 
offering  exclusively  traditional  courses  were  attracted  by 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


83 


the  industrial  studies  available.  The  table  presented  ex- 
hibits the  percentage  of  total  school  enrollments  in  the 
second  and  the  seventh  grades  of  the  elementary  school, 
and  in  the  first  and  fourth,  years  of  the  high  school  for  the 
school  years  ending  June,  1911,  and  in  June,  1915. 

TABLE  I— Grade  percentage  o'  total  enrollment. 


Year 

Second 
grade 

Seventh 
grade 

First  year 
high  school 

Fourth  vear 
high  school 

1910-11                              

11.82 

7.88 

5.37 

2.46 

1914-15    

8.19 

8.59 

8.73 

6.4 

The  increased  percentages  of  total  enrollment  in  the 
seventh  grade,  the  first,  and  the  fourth  years  of  the  high 
school  for  1915  show  the  rapidly  increasing  power  of  the 
school  to  retain  the  children  for  the  full  twelve  years.  In 
1911  the  high  school  attendance  was  15  per  cent  of  the 
total  enrollment.  In  1915,  26  per  cent  of  the  total  school 
enrollment  were  in  the  high  school.  The  past  four  years 
have  been  characterized  by  business  depression  in  the 
Northwest,  consequently  the  school  enrollment  has  not  in- 
creased by  any  immigration.  The  increased  high  school 
enrollment  has  been  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  a  con- 
stantly growing  percentage  of  the  pupils  from  the  grades 
are  attending  the  high  school,  attracted  by  the  variety  of 
the  work  offered  them. 

Moreover,  the  introduction  of  industrial  subjects  has  not 
prevented  the  traditional  subjects  from  enjoying  a  very 
wholesome  growth.  Allowing  four  subjects  for  each  of  the 
400  students  in  attendance  in  1909,  there  were  1,600  reg- 
istrations in  strictly  traditional  subjects  that  year.  No 
exact  data  are  available,  but  the  estimate  is  fair.  There 
were  as  many  students  who  registered  for  fewer  than  four 
subjects  as  there  were  who  carried  more  than  four  studies. 
In  1914  there  were  997  students  enrolled  with  a  total  of 
4,119  registrations.  Of  this  total,  there  were,  in  traditional 
subjects,  2,864  registrations,  an  increase  of  1,264. 


84  SPECIAL  REPORT 

TABLE  II — Comparative  costs  of  High  School  subjects. 

English    $163.00 

Commercial    104.00 

History    87.00 

Agriculture    80.00 

Mathematics    74.00 

Science   71.00 

Cooking 60.00 

Modern  Languages 59.00 

Latin     57.00 

Sewing    57.00 

Manual  Training    56.00 

Art    31.00 

Music    30.00 

Drafting    29.00 

Oral  Expression    27.00 

Physical   Training 15.00 


$1000.00 

It  will  be  noted  from  the  above  table  that  English  ranks 
high.  The  reason  of  this  is  that  three  years  of  English  are 
required  of  all,  but  this1  required  work  in  English  is 
rapidly  being  adjusted,  a  part  of  it  at  any  rate,  to  voca- 
tional English,  which  will  deal  with  the  terminologies  and 
the  problems  of  each  special  course.  Commercial  educa- 
tion also  represents  a  large  relative  amount  of  expendi- 
tures. This  is  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  great  numbers 
of  students  in  this  section  of  the  country  go  into  commer- 
cial lines.  Boise  is  a  commercial  distributing  point  for  a 
very  large  territory  between  Salt  Lake  and  Portland.  With 
the  execution  of  agriculture,  it  represents  the  largest  in- 
dustry. It  is  hoped  that  as  the  agricultural  course  de- 
velops an  increasing  proportion  of  expenditures  may  be 
found  for  agricultural  education. 

It  is  worthy  of  note,  also,  that  in  a  school  which  rep- 
resents free  election,  a  liberal  amount  of  the  expenditures 
is  yet  represented  in  the  traditional  subjects. 

The  above  segregation  of  the  expenses  shows  that  many 
students  have  been  retained  for  the  high  school  because 
they  wanted  the  industrial  work.  After  they  have  en- 
rolled and  registered  for  the  industrial  work  that  appealed 
to  them,  they  complete  their  program  by  taking  one  or 
more  cultural  subjects.  Industrial  education  has,  there- 
fore, not  crowded  cultural  studies  out  of  the  Boise  High 
School  but  has  extended  these  traditional  subjects  to 
groups  of  students  who  would  never  have  entered  the  high 
school  had  the  curriculum  offered  cultural  courses  ex- 
clusively. 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  85 

On  this  subject,  the  testimony  of  Professor  Arthur  Brat- 
ton,  dean  of  liberal  arts,  Whitman  College,  at  Walla  Walla, 
Washington,  is  interesting.  After  visiting  the  school  for 
one  week,  his  comment  in  a  local  paper  is  in  part  as 
follows : 

"You  ask  me  for  my  impressions  of  the  Boise  High 
School.  Perhaps  you  will  best  understand  what  I 
have  to  say  if  I  first  tell  you  of  the  mental  attitude  with 
which  I  came  to  make  my  visit. 

"I  had  read  and  heard  much  of  the  departures  from 
traditional  educational  lines,  which  were  receiving  so  un- 
restircted  a  trial  here.  Many  high  schools)  in  this  section 
are  being  modified  along  much  the  same  lines  as  are  being 
followed  here,  but  the  vigor  and  whole-heartedness  with 

which  the  program  is  being  followed  by  your  officers     * 

#     * » 

"My  own  education  and  experience  had  led  me  to  regard 
as  of  the  highest  value  those  courses!  which  are  generally 
classed  as  cultural,  and  I  was  prepared  to  criticize  any 
change  which  should  seem  to  lessen  the  importance  of  these 
subjects  of  the  high  school  curriculum. 

Large  Number  of  Students. 

"One  of  the  early  facts  which  I  learned  here  was  that 
you  have  registered  nearly  a  thousand  students,  a  far 
larger  number  than  is  normal  for  a  city  of  this  population. 
Then,  that  your  senior  classes  of  last  year  and  thisi  are 
considerably  in  excess  of  a  hundred,  again  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  students  completing  the  course  than  is  usual. 
I  found  also  that  the  number  of  registrations  in  the  cul- 
tural courses  has  nearly  doubled  in  four  years,  whereas 
the  population  of  the  city  or  school  district  shows  no  such 
increase. 

"I  asked  several  of  the  teachers*  in  the  cultural 
subjects,  particularly  languages,  as  these  might  be  ex- 
pected to  suffer  most,  about  the  effect  of  the  free  election 
and  the  vocational  courses  on  the  attendance  and  quality 
of  work  in  their  classes,  and  found  that  they  indorsed  the 
opinion  that  on  the  whole  the  work  in  their  departments 
had  been  helped  rather  than  hindered.  I  am  disposed  to 
attach  high  value  to  these  opinions  *  *  *. 

"I  am  convinced  that  not  only  are  many  pupils  induced 
to  continue  in  the  school  who  would  otherwise  have  drop- 


86  SPECIAL  REPOET 

ped  out,  but  also  that  in  many  cases  the  vocational  work 
becomes  the  basis  of  an  interest  in  the  cultural  courses 
which  increases  their  usefulness  and  the  demand  for  them." 

The  writer  to  the  "Nation"  assumes  that  industrial 
courses  do  not  stimulate  intellectual  effort  and  do  not 
measure  intellectual  attainment.  Many  school  officials 
assign  these  reasons  for  permitting  only  a  limited  min- 
ority of  the  units  necessary  for  graduation  to  be  worked 
out  in  industrial  lines.  No  one,  however,  has  ever  proven 
conclusively  that  traditional  branches  produce  greater  in- 
tellectual changes  in  those  pursuing  them  than  industrial 
activities  efficiently  conducted.  But  assuming  that  for 
those  in  the  high  school  who  may  reasonably  hope  to  go  to 
college  courses  in  strictly  traditional  lines  may  be  advis- 
able and  desirable,  school  managers  should  remember  that 
students  preparing  for  college  are  but  a  small  percentage 
of  all  who  might  be  in  attendance  if  courses  were  provided 
for  the  vocational  needs  of  the  vast  majority  who  may  not 
hope  for  educational  opportunities  beyond  those  afforded 
by  the  public  schools.  The  high  school  is  the  people's  col- 
lege and  the  officials  who  direct  its  activities  should  be 
just  as  careful  to  provide  the  kind  of  training  necessary 
to  prepare  the  many  for  industrial  life  as  they  have  always 
been  to  secure  adequate  college-preparatory  courses  for 
the  fortunate  few. 

The  board  of  education  in  Boise  awards  the  diploma  of 
graduation  to  all  students  who  have  labored  four  years  in 
the  high  school  preparing  themselves  for  their  own  chosen 
vocation  in  life.  The  work  of  the  boy  who  has  prepared 
himself  to  enter  college  is  not  discredited  because  the  same 
award  of  merit  is  conferred  upon  the  boy  who  has  credit- 
ably completed  those  courses  which  best  prepare  him  suc- 
cessfully to  manage  a  farm. 

Those  who  elect  the  vocational  courses  not  only  get  some 
vocational  equipment  but  they  also  receive  the  best  train- 
ing to  stimulate  their  intellectual  effort  and  to  increase 
their  intellectual  attainment.  In  the  spring  of  1914  the 
250  students  who  in  the  previous  September  entered  the 
high  school  from  the  elementary  school  in  Boise  were  class- 
ified into  the  highest  third,  the  medium  third,  and  the  low- 
est third,  the  basis  of  classification  being  the  grades  award- 
ed at  the  end  of  the  first  semester  in  the  high  school.  These 
groups  were  then  compared  with  a  similar  classification  of 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


87 


the  same  students,  the  grades  at  the  end  of  the 
elementary  school  being  the  basis  of  classification. 
Table  III  shows  the  comparison.  Those  who  made  the 
study  were  asked  to  determine  why  there  was  such  a  varia- 


III. 


Elementary 
school 

High  school 

Per  cent 

(  First 

47 

First 

•<  Second  

36 

Second  -  
Third 

<  Third  

(  First  
4  Second  
|  Third  

{First  
Second     .... 

17 

40 
41 
19 

13 

2> 

Third 

64 

tion  of  achievement  in  the  grades  and  in  the  high  school. 
Why  did  only  47  per  cent  of  those  in  the  first  group  in 
the  grades  maintain  their  position  in  the  first  group  in 
the  high  school  while  53  per  cent  fell  below  that  group? 
Why  did  only  41  per  cent  of  the  second  group  in  the  grades 
maintain  their  position  in  that  group  in  the  high  school 
and  59  per  cent  go  above  or  below  it?  Why  did  36  per 
cent  of  the  third  group  in  the  grades  go  up  into  the  first 
and  second  groups  in  the  high  school?  To  determine  the 
cause  of  this  marked  variation  in  the  elementary  school 
and  the  high  school,  the  individual  programs  and  grades 
of  all  the  250  students  were  examined.  Upon  entering 
the  high  school  82  students  selected  half  or  more  than  half 
their  work  from  the  industrial  courses.  More  than  one 
hundred  elected  one  or  more  industrial  courses.  Of  the  82 
who  went  intensively  into  the  industrial  work,  70  advanced 
above  the  group  to  which  they  had  belonged  in  the  grades, 
while  only  12  merely  maintained  their  position  in  the 
same  group  fell  below  it. 

To  explain  this  situation,  one  might  suspect  that  teach- 
ers of  industrial  subjects  grade  more  liberally  than  those 
who  teach  the  traditional  studies.  There  are  found,  how- 
ever, no  foundation  for  this  assumption.  No  correlation 
could  be  established  between  teachers  who  grade  high  and 
those  who  grade  low,  and  those  who  teach  cultural  sub- 
jects and  those  who  conduct  industrial  activities.  The 
variation  of  standards  in  grading  was  quite  as  much  among 


88  SPECIAL  REPORT 

the  different  teachers  of  English  as  between  the  teachers 
of  English  and  those  who  teach  cooking  or  sew- 
ing. The  teachers  of  mathematics  and  modern  lan- 
guages varied  quite  as  much  in  standards  of  grad- 
ing as  those  of  agriculture  and  bookkeeping.  The 
curve  of  distribution  of  grades  from  highest  to 
lowest  was  about  the  same  for  the  newer  school  activi- 
ties as  that  for  the  traditional  subjects.  Greater  liberality 
in  grading  by  the  industrial  teachers,  therefore,  could  not 
be  accepted  as  an  explanation  of  the  fact  that  students  of 
industrial  subjects  tended  to  go  above  the  group  to  which 
they  had  belonged  in  the  grades  and  so  to  disturb  the 
former  alignment  as  to  bring  down  the  ones  who  selected 
the  strictly  traditional  subjects. 

Seventy  of  the  82  students  who,  upon  entering  the  high 
school,  selected  mainly  industrial  work  went  above  the 
group  to  which  they  had  belonged  in  the  grades  because 
they  were  permitted  to  select  courses  which  appealed  to 
them  and  for  which  they  soon  demonstrated  that  they 
possessed  some  aptitude.  Their  former  grade  teachers 
were  surprised  at  their  high  school  achievements.  These 
students  accomplished  little  in  the  grades  because  there 
was  nothing  in  the  formal  elementary  school  curriculum 
to  stimulate,  to  develop,  and  to  measure  the  special  types 
of  ability  they  possessed.  The  compulsory  attendance  law 
kept  them  in  school,  and  so  they  merely  marked  time  and 
in  a  spiritless  and  listless  fashion  did  as  little  of  the  rigid 
work  required  as  would  be  permitted.  But  they  possessed 
ability  undiscovered  either  by  themselves  or  by  their 
teachers.  Had  the  high  school  not  afforded  opportunity 
for  the  exercise  and  the  development  of  these  special  types 
of  ability,  the  students  wTho  possessed  them  would  soon 
have  left  it  for  the  more  congenial  and  educative  atmos- 
phere of  the  world  outside  the  school. 

Fifty-two  per  cent  of  all  who  elected  one  or  more  in- 
dustrial courses  went  above  their  grade  group  even  in  the 
traditional  studies  with  which  they  completed  their  pro- 
grams. This  means  that  they  had  always  possessed  abili- 
ties which  in  the  grades  had  been  undiscovered  even  by 
themselves.  The  industrial  work  in  the  high  school  afford- 
ed them  chances  to  demonstrate  their  worth  and  to  develop 
their  special  aptitudes.  Their  increased  self  respect  and 
self  confidence  awakened  new  hope  and  new  ambition. 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  89 

They  therefore  attacked  even  the  traditional  studies  with 
enough  energy  and  enthusiasm  to  get  better  results  than 
they  had  ever  before  attained.  But  the  industrial  studies 
had  first  stimulated  their  intellectual  effort  and  thereby 
increased  their  intellectual  attainment  when  it  was  measr 
ured  by  their  achievements  even  in  the  cultural  subjects. 

The  introduction  of  industrial  education  into  the  curri- 
culum of  the  Boise  High  School  has  not,  as  the  writer  to 
the  "Nation"  and  some  local  critics  predicted,  crowded  out 
cultural  education,  but  has  wonderfully  increased  regis- 
trations in  strictly  cultural  subjects. 

Industrial  education  has  not,  as  some  conservatives  pro- 
phesied, decreased  intellectual  effort  and  intellectual  at- 
tainment. The  pupils  who  elect  the  industrial  courses 
develop  unexpected  ability  to  attack  and  to  master  even 
the  cultural  subjects. 

CO-OPERATION  OF  THE  COMMUNITY  WITH  THE 
PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

The  expert  survey  of  the  Boise  schools  made  in  1913, 
page  22,  says :  "Throughout  the  inquiry,  the  members  of 
the  committee  have  been  impressed  on  every  hand  with 
the  intimate  relationship  that  obtains  between  the  com- 
munity and  the  school  system."  The  school  management 
and  teaching  force  are  grateful  to  the  community  for  the 
splendid  spirit  of  co-operation  it  has  always  manifested. 
Duties  of  administration  and  instruction  have  been  made 
lighter  by  the  sympathetic  attitude  the  patrons  have  almost 
uniformly  assumed. 

The  following  partial  list  of  items  of  the  more  recent 
co-operative  activities  of  the  community  and  the  school 
system  is  submitted  as  significant  of  the  community's  atti- 
tude toward  education.  The  school  management  submits 
this  list  with  pride  and  gratitude  as  one  of  the  evidences 
of  the  progressive  spirit  that  pervades  Boise  in  its  effort 
to  provide  modern  facilities  of  education  for  its  growing 
population : 

The  Juvenile  Court  and  the  Probation  Officers  have  at 
all  times  rendered  effective  aid  in  procuring  regular  and 
punctual  attendance  of  children  and  in  compelling  de- 
linquent parents  to  regard  more  seriously  and  to  perform 
more  thoroughly  the  duties  of  mothers  and  fathers. 


90  SPECIAL  REPORT 

The  school  nurse,  Miss  Harcourt,  has  been  very  success- 
ful in  getting  the  co-operation  of  the  dentists,  physicians, 
and  all  the  health  department  of  the  city. 

The  City  Health  Department,  consisting  of  city  physi- 
cian, city  nurse,  and  city  health  officers,  have  followed  up 
in  the  homes  all  the  cases  referred  to  them  by  the  school 
nurse.  They  have  also  rendered  valuable  assistance  to  the 
school  authorities  in  preventing  the  spread  of  infectious 
diseases  by  enforcing  rules  of  quarantine. 

The  physicians  and  dentists  of  the  city  have,  for  the 
past  three  years,  free  of  charge,  made  a  careful  physical 
examination  of  every  child  in  the  school  district  and  have 
treated,  free  of  charge,  those  children  whose  parents  were 
unable  to  pay  for  treatment. 

Mothers'  Clubs  have  aided  the  school  in  furnishing  rest 
rooms,  providing  school  gardens,  and  encouraging  many 
special  school  activities. 

The  Police  Department  works  in  complete  harmony 
with  the  teachers  in  supervising  the  out-of-school  life  of 
children.  Those  contributing  to  the  delinquency  of  chil- 
dren are  almost  invariably  detected  and  punished.  Police 
Superintendent  "Robinson  and  his  force  have  been  un- 
usually efficient  along  these  lines. 

The  Commercial  Club  contributed  the  money  necessary 
to  make  the  head  of  the  agricultural  department  in  the 
high  school  the  agricultural  advisor  for  the  county,  thus 
making  the  agricultural  activities  of  Ada  County  a  work- 
ing laboratory  for  the  students  in  the  high  school.  The  club 
contributes  toward  paying  lecturers  for  the  teachers'  in- 
stitutes and  associations,  furnishes  its  rooms  free  of 
charge  for  the  entertainment  of  guests  of  the  school,  gives 
luncheons  and  dinners  in  honor  of  educators  who  visit  the 
schools,  and  in  many  other  services  manifests  its  interest 
in  all  school  activities. 

The  Columbian  Club,  the  largest  woman's  organization 
in  the  city,  co-operated  with  the  school  in  organizing  the 
Boise  Choral  Society.  This  musical  organization  has 
united  with  the  school  all  the  adult  musical  talent  of  the 
city.  The  Columbian  Club  has  also  encouraged  school 
children  to  plant  flowers  at  home  and  to  improve  their 
home  lawns. 

The  Public  Improvement  and  Good  Citizenship  Clubs 
encouraged  school  children  to  cultivate  vacant  lots,  to  dig 
dandelions,  and  to  observe  clean-up  days. 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  91 

The  farmers  of  the  Boise  Valley  co-operated  with  the 
agricultural  department  of  the  high  school  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  Dairy  Association  which  provided  the  students 
an  opportunity  to  study  problems  of  feed  and  milk  produc- 
tion by  testing  each  month  some  two  hundred  dairy  cows. 

The  State  Poultry  Association  is  the  result  of  the  joint 
activity  of  teachers  and  pupils  and  local  poultry  breeders. 

Every  farmer  who  is  conducting  a  distinctive  agricul- 
tural enterprise  and  every  breeder  of  high  grade  stock 
welcomes  the  pupils  and  renders  them  all  aid  possible,  even 
to  bringing  onto  the  school  grounds  prize  stock  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  students  a  chance  for  stock  judging  con- 
tests. 

The  Knights  of  Columbus  .offered  prizes  for  the  best 
essay  on  Columbus,  and  the  Commercial  Club  gave  prizes 
for  the  best  Booster  Essays.  The  Daughters  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution  have  conducted  contests  for  committing  to 
memory  the  national  songs,  and  also  contests  for  the  best 
patriotic  essays. 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  officials  conduct  a  grammar  grade  base 
ball  and  basket  ball  league,  and  co-operate  with  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  in  recruiting  classes  for  the  night  school  under  the 
management  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

The  College  Women's  Club  and  the  University  of  Idaho 
Club,  each  offer  an  annual  scholarship  of  $200  to  send 
deserving  high  school  graduates  to  the  State  University. 

Implement  dealers  of  the  city  furnish  all  sorts  of  ma- 
chinery for  demonstration  purposes.  One  dealer  in  farm 
machinery  has  sent  students  out  into  the  field  to  demon- 
strate farm  machinery  for  prospective  purchasers  and  of- 
fered a  commission  to  the  boys  who  made  sales. 

Fruit  growers  have  hired  students  to  plant,  spray  and 
cultivate  commercial  orchards,  and  fruit  dealers  are  al- 
ways ready  to  take  boys  into  their  packing  establishments 
where  practical  experience  may  be  acquired  in  packing 
fruit. 

The  business  men  of  the  city,  furnish  free  or  at  cost, 
all  supplies  and  implements  used  on  the  school  farm. 

The  Parent-Teachers'  Associations  co-operate  with  the 
teachers  in  conducting  social  centers  in  the  school  build- 
ings, thus  utilizing  the  school  plant  for  adult  educational 
purposes. 


92  SPECIAL  REPORT 

The  Idaho  Commission  of  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposi- 
tion paid  for  the  material  from  which  the  classes  in  man- 
ual training  made  furniture  to  equip  the  Idaho  Building 
at  the  Fair  in  San  Francisco. 

One  of  the  most  notable  examples  of  school  and  com- 
munity co-operative  enterprises  has  been  the  feature  parade 
of  the  Irrigation  Carnival  held  for  three  successive  years 
in  Boise.  The  liberal  amount  of  money  appropriated  by 
the  Carnival  Committee  afforded  the  teachers  and  pupils 
an  opportunity  to  make  of  the  illuminated  pageant  they 
created  a  great  school  festival.  To  illustrate  the  possi- 
bilities of  such  an  enterpirse,  the  report  of  the  committee 
having  the  last  parade  in  charge  is  submitted. 

The  Rainmakers'  Parade. 

"Last  year  the  Rainmakers'  Parade  was  turned  over  to 
the  public  schools,  and  they  were  given  a  free  hand  and  a 
generous  sum,  and  told  to  see  how  good  an  exhibition  they 
could  make.  So  successful  was  their  attempt,  and  so  far 
beyond  anything  that  had  ever  been  seen  in  Boise  in  the 
past,  that  this  year  the  committee  on  carnival  arrange- 
ments would  listen  to  no  refusal,  but  insisted  that  the 
schools  again  take  entire  chearge  of  the  planning  and  exe- 
cution of  what  is  the  most  spectacular  feature  of  carnival 
week.  With  the  increased  sum  at  their  disposal,  and  the 
more  than  generous  co-operation  of  the  Idaho-Oregon  Light 
and  Power  Company,  the  school  committee,  therefore,  of 
which  Mr.  Meek  is  chairman,  has  prepared  a  set  of  plans 
and  specifications  which  it  feels  sure  will  surpass  even 
its  notable  success  of  a  year  ago. 

"The  parade,  of  thirty  floats  and  twelve  hundred  march- 
ing children,  is  to  be  divided  into  three  main  sections,  in 
each  of  which  some  special  feature  will  be  worked  out. 
The  first  division  represents  the  nursery  tales  and  legends 
so  dear  to  the  children's  hearts.  At  its  head  is  Old  Mother 
Goose  herself,  flying  to  the  moon  on  her  famous  bird.  After 
her  come  her  most  celebrated  characters,  each  properly 
attended.  Little  Boy  Blue  is  blowing  his  horn  on  a  beau- 
tiful float  of  green,  with  the  maize  and  the  haystack  all 
complete,  and  after  him  march  a  group  of  sixty  Litttle  Boy 
Blues,  each  blowing  his  owrn  horn  to  good  purpose.  Then 
comes  Mistress  Mary's  garden  with  Mistress  Mary  herself, 
quite  contrary,  watering  their  nodding  little  human  heads, 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  93 

arid  behind  her  float  inarch  the  little  poppy  and  lily  and 
daisy  girls.  Next  comes  the  Old  Woman  Who  Lived  in  a 
Shoe,  with  her  harassing,  overnumerous,  unmanageable 
offspring.  She  is  followed  by  another  character  famous 
for  his  troubles — The  King  whose  pie,  when  it  was  opened, 
proved  more  musical  than  edible,  and  after  the  monarch 
will  be  seen  the  marching  blackbirds,  a  hundred  strong, 
though  there  were  but  four  and  twenty  in  the  song.  So,— 
many  of  these  nursery  people  had  their  times  of  trial,— 
the  next  two  ladies  are  both  known  to  us  through  their 
distress.  They  are  Little  Miss  Muffet,  whose  spider  Avill 
be  shown  quite  large  enough  to  justify  her  terror,  and 
Poor  Bo  Peep,  who,  even  with  the  aid  of  a  hundred  other 
shepherdesses,  all  costumed,  equipped  with  crooks,  cannot 
find  her  lost  sheep.  After  this  pastoral  tragedy  comes  the 
gorgeous  court  scene  of  the  Queen  of  Hearts,  whose  thiev- 
ish knave  cannot  resist  her  tarts.  Next  Bobby  Shafto, 
in  a  real  boat,  will  wave  farewell  to  his  love,  while  fifty 
jolly  little  Jack  tars  follow  in  his  wake.  The  divisiion 
closes  with  one  of  the  most  popular  monarchs  of  history, 
Old  King  Cole,  whose  pipe  and  bowl  and  Fiddlers  Three 
will  all  be  faithfully  shown. 

"The  second  section  is  given  over  to  Fairy  Tales  and 
Legends.  No  less  a  personage  than  Titania,  the  Fairy 
Queen  herself,  will  lead  the  van.  She  will  ride  surrounded 
by  her  court,  and  followed  by  a  troop  of  fairies  and  elves. 
To  transport  a  bit  of  her  own  loved  woodland  is  an  easy 
matter  for  so  powerful  a  wand  as  hers,  and  so,  in  her  Jack- 
in-the-pulpit  throne,  under  arching  bowers  of  leaves,  she 
will  hold  her  court.  And  Avho  so  fitting  to  come  next  as  the 
Sleeping  Beauty,  in  her  rose-grown  castle,  with  her  Fairy 
Prince  just  ready  to  awaken  her,  and  little  rose-clad  maid- 
ens marching  after.  Then  poor  dear  Cinderella  by  her 
fireside — but  poor  no  longer,  for  her  fairy  godmother,  with 
radiant  wand,  is  about  to  clothe  her  and  transport  her  to 
the  Royal  Ball.  And  here  is  Goldilocks,  whose  curiosity 
has  led  her  to  the  little  House-in-the- woods  where  lived 
the  Three  Beara  After  them  we  see  bold  Robin  Hood, 
under  his  trysting  tree,  his  merry  men  around  him,  while 
a  band  of  archers,  clad  in  Lincoln  green,  marches  behind. 
Next  comes  Hansel  and  Gretel,  hand  in  hand,  to  explore 
the  wronderful  candy  house,  with  chocolate  roof  and  pep- 
permint-stick pillars,  where  the  Old  Witch  is  waiting  for 


94  SPECIAL  REPORT 

them.  The  next  float  takes  us  from  forest  to  seashore,  and 
Lohengrin,  just  stepping  from  his  swan-boat,  comes  to 
rescue  Elsa.  On  the  next,  the  Pied  Piper  of  Hamlin  Town 
is  luring  the  children  from  their  homes  to  his  hill-cavern 
—and  so  powerful  is  his  piping  that  eighty  little  German 
boys  and  girls  follow  his  strains.  Then  Alice,  in  her  Won- 
derland, is  seen  taking  tea  with  the  Mad  March  Hare,  the 
Mad  Hatter,  and  the  sleepy  little  dormouse,  who  cannot 
keep  awake  long  enough  to  enjoy  his  cup  of  tea.  This 
division  closes  as  did  the  other,  with  a  most  popular  hero — 
Jack  the  Giantkiller,  and  the  giant  he  has  slaughtered. 

"The  third  group  of  floats  is  representative  of  the  Na- 
tions of  the  world,  and  the  countries  chosen,  with  typical 
scenes  and  costumes  for  each,  are  Ireland,  France,  Japan, 
Egypt,  Holland,  Turkey,  Scotland,  Germany,  Africa,  and 
our  own  United  States.  Upon  this  float,  which  is  to  form 
a  fitting  climax  for  the  entire  pageant,  a  most  dazzling 
lighting  has  been  arranged,  and  Columbia,  at  the  prow 
of  her  Ship  of  State,  will  be  the  brilliant  figure  we  all 
love  to  picture  her. 

"Even  at  this  early  date,  all  the  details  of  costuming, 
building,  lighting,"  and  materials  have  been  arranged  for, 
and  the  assignments  are  complete  down  to  the  smallest 
point,  for  the  earlier  date  of  the  carnival  made  it  essential 
that  these  arrangements  be  completed  at  once,  in  order  that 
next  falPs  work  be  not  impossibly  heavy.  The  committee 
is  well  satisfied  that  when  Boise  has  seen  the  elaborate 
floats,  each  so  carefully  worked  out  and  so  brilliantly 
lighted,  and  the  groups  of  costumed  children,  twelve  hun- 
dred strong,  she  will  say  that  the  pageant  is  the  most  beau- 
tiful ever  displayed  in  a  city  of  this  size." 

This  school  festival  afforded  an  opportunity  to  get  more 
educational  value  out  of  the  fairy  and  folk  stories  than 
any  other  educational  device.  Then,  too,  the  consciousness 
aroused  in  the  pupils  by  the  knowledge  that  they  were 
rendering  a  community  service  produced  distinct  educa- 
tional results. 

As  these  thirty  brilliantly  lighted  floats  and  twelve  hun- 
dred costumed  children  were  marched  in  perfect  order 
through  the  streets  of  Boise,  conducted  by  two  troops  of 
United  States  Cavalry  and  three  bands,  the  thousands  of 
spectators  realized  as  never  before  the  possibilities  of 
school  and  community  co-operation. 


BOISE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  95 

FINANCIAL  STATISTICS 
For  the  Fiscal  Year  Ending  June  30,  J9J5 


PAYMENTS. 

Expenses  of  General  Control — 

Board  and  Secretary's  office $        1,634.92 

Elections   and    census 238.88 

Office  in  charge  of  building .  .  480.00 

Finance  office  and  accounts 405.00 

Superintendent's  office    5,090.65 

Other  expenses  of  general  control 208.30 


Total    $      8,057.75 

Expenses  of  Instruction — 

Salaries    of    supervisors $      3,210.08 

Salaries  of   principals 14,730.33 

Salaries  of  teachers — regular 115,921.78 

Salaries  of  teachers — substitute 1,103.50 

Text  books  (not  to  be  sold) 2,530.19 

Stationery  and  supplies  used  in  instruc- 
tion   4,446.51 

Other  expenses  of  instruction 1,122.25 


Total $143,064.64 

Expenses  of  Operation  of  School  Plant — 

Wages  of  janitors  and  other  employees.      $    10,163.33 

Fuel    7,893.76 

Water 547.29 

Light  and   power 848.69 

Janitors'    supplies     : 1,626.45 

Other   expenses    of    operation    of   school 

Plant    1,050.77 


Total    $    22,130.29 

Expenses  of  Maintenance  of  School  Plant — 

Building,  repair  and  upkeep  of  grounds     $  3,410.35 

Repair  and  replacement  of  equipment..  917.21 

Insurance    2,954.09 

Other  expenses  of  maintenance  of  school 

Plant 1,058.90 


$      8,340.55 
Expenses  of  Auxiliary  Agencies — 

High     School    farm . $      4,405.60 

Library  books    298.66 

Medical  inspection   (including  salaries).  1,729.55 


$      6,433.81 
Special    activities 509.15 


96  SPECIAL  REPORT 

Outlays — Capital  Acquisition  and  Construction — 

High  School  Athletic   park $         617.25 

Alteration   of  old   buildings 137.30 

Equipment  of  new  buildings  and  grounds  161.18 

New  equipment  of  old   buildings 2,306.56 


Totals     $      3,222.29 

Other  Payments — 

Tuition    refund $  31.50 

Cafeteria     889.27 

Night  School   expense 512.24 

Payments  of  interest 20,413.67 

Text  books  to  be  sold  to  pupils 3,074.94 

Miscellaneous     1,814.16 


Total    $    26,735.78 


Grand  total  of  payments $218,494.26 

RECEIPTS. 
Revenue  Receipts — 

From    County    $    77,112.70 

Delinquent  tax  levy 4,664.21 

From    tax   levy 124,705.53 

From    tuitions    3,462.77 

Rents  and  interest 1,221.92 

Licenses  and  othej"  revenues 9,964.81 


Total    $221,131.94 

Non-revenue  Receipts — 

Night    School    tuition     $         273.35 

Sales   of   realty   and    proceeds   of   insur- 
ance adjustments 34.80 

Equipment  and  supplies 279.81 

Books  sold  to  pupils 2,138.60 

Cafeteria    389.50 

Refunds     459.69 

High   School   farm 236.64 

Other  non-revenues 39.51 


Total    $      3,851.90 


Grand   total   of  receipts $224,983.84 

Balance  last  report,   O.  D 1,463.02 


$223,520.82 
Less  grand  total  payments  as  above.  ..  .  218,494.26 


Remaining    on    hand $      5,026.56 

(Signed)  GUY  SCUDDER, 

Secretary. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


^I'SOMJ 

BEC!D  ^ 

DEC  13  YPto 

• 

L(^s^e5B9                               U^S^Sgnd. 

VC  542 


404528 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


